How recombination alters drift and selection in the genome

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

My research program investigates how the generation and availability of genetic variation interacts with drift and selection to influence evolution. Two fundamental processes generate the variation that fuels evolution: mutation and recombination. Mutation creates new variants, and recombination shuffles mutations into new combinations. During sex, recombination brings together beneficial mutations that have occurred in different individuals, increasing the effectiveness of selection. Similarly, recombination breaks apart nearby beneficial from harmful mutations that would otherwise interfere with the ability of selection to fix the adaptive changes. Interestingly, there is evidence that the rate of recombination varies across the genome. This means that selection in regions of the genome may be more or less effective, depending on the rate of recombination. Surprisingly, there are few studies of recombination rate variation in the genome, primarily because recombination occurs so rarely; less than once in every 10 million sites. Fortunately, the genomic revolution offers the technology needed to observe recombination at the molecular scale. I propose to investigate variation in recombination and its consequences for adaptation in the model alga