Population Biology and Evolution of an Androgen Regulated Gene

每个基因都有两个基本属性。它决定了蛋白质的结构，并受到调控。它产生的蛋白质的结构决定了它的功能--它是生物体的结构部分，还是可以作为代谢反应的催化剂。如果它是一种催化剂，它的结构准确地决定了它催化什么代谢反应。基因的调控决定了每种细胞类型产生多少蛋白质，以及蛋白质的产生如何随着激素因素的变化而变化。正是基因调控特性的差异使得像我们这样的复杂生物可以由多种类型的细胞组成，每种类型的细胞都具有不同的功能。如果没有这些调控上的差异，就不可能产生不同的组织，如肌肉和胰腺，它们具有非常不同的生理功能。目前的进化理论表明，基因调控的变化在进化中非常重要，特别是在进化特别快的群体中，比如灵长类动物。尽管如此，由于技术上的限制，人们对基因调控进化的了解远远少于对蛋白质结构进化的了解。这项提议是为了利用我们对基因调控分子机制的理解的最新进展来帮助弥补这一缺陷。将被研究的实验系统是一种名为B-葡萄糖醛酸酶的基因，被认为参与信息素的代谢产生，信息素是动物之间改变交配和繁殖行为的化学信号。该基因受男性性激素睾酮的调节，并提供了一个良好的实验系统，因为这种调节的分子细节已经被很好地理解了。这些具体的实验旨在更准确地确定该基因进化过程中发生的调控变化的性质，并澄清导致基因表达进化的潜在遗传变化的性质。这项工作将在小鼠物种中进行，在这些物种中，已知该基因的调节特性正在迅速进化。

Every gene has two essential attributes. It determines the structure of a protein and it is regulated. The structure of the protein it produces determines its function - whether it is a structural part of the organism or whether it can serve as a catalyst of a metabolic reaction. If it is a catalyst, the structure determines exactly what metabolic reaction it catalyzes. The regulation of the gene determines how much of the protein is produced in each cell type and how the production of the protein changes in response to hormonal factors. It is differences in the regulatory properties of genes that allow complex organisms like ourselves to be composed of many cell types, each with a different function. Without these differences in regulation it would not be possible to produce diverse tissues, such as muscle and pancreas that have very different physiological functions. Current evolutionary theory suggests that changes in gene regulation have been extremely important in evolution, particularly among groups, such as primates, that have evolved especially rapidly. Despite this, because of technical limitations, much less is understood about the evolution of gene regulation than has been learned about the evolution of protein structure. The proposal is an effort to exploit recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation to help remedy this deficiency. The experimental system to be studied is a gene, called B-glucuronidase, that is thought to be involved in the metabolic production of pheromones, chemical signals between animals that alter their mating and productive behavior. This gene is regulated by the male sex hormone testosterone and provides a favorable experimental system because the molecular details of the regulation are well understood. The specific experiments are designed to determine more precisely the nature of the regulatory changes that are occurring in the evolution of this gene, and to clarify the nature of the underlying genetic changes that bring about this evolution of gene expression. The work will be carried on among mouse species where the regulatory properties of the gene are known to be evolving rapidly.