REU: Mitochondrial-Nuclear Interactions in Hybrid Zones

遗传上不同的种群之间的杂交区， 物种提供了一个不寻常的机会来研究物种形成 过程混合区的一些现象会影响 物种形成发生。 新分子的可用性 不同生物体中的DNA标记提供了一种不寻常的 有机会研究混合区。 线粒体被安置在 在所有真核生物中， 细胞;这些结构有自己的DNA， 染色体DNA 在混合区的研究中， 母系遗传的遗传标记，如mtDNA中所提供的， 尤其重要。 线粒体DNA的母系遗传使得 它类似于许多国家的姓氏继承模式， 人类社会，就像姓氏可以追踪人类一样， 因此，线粒体DNA是否允许追踪母系 几乎所有高等生物的血统。 该提案的目的是：（1）制定新的措施 （2）确定动态 （3）引入新的统计方法 用于估计这些关联的措施;（4）应用这个新的 几个真实的和假设的混合数据集的方法 区界限 几个混合区具有相当大的实用性 重要性 最近引进的火蚁， Solenopsis invicta和S.李氏杆菌是一种主要的农业害虫 在东南部。 类似的担忧也出现在生物学领域。 控制其他农业或医学上重要的物种 复合体，如螺旋虫或“黄热病”蚊子， 埃及伊蚊

Hybrid zones between genetically different populations or species provide an unusual opportunity to study the speciation process. A number of phenomena in hybrid zones can influence how speciation takes place. The availability of new molecular markers of the DNA in varied organisms provides an unusual opportunity to study hybrid zones. Mitochondria are housed in the cell cytoplasm and carry out respiration in all eukaryotic cells; these structures have their own DNA distinct from chromosomal DNA. In studies of hybrid zones the availability of maternally transmitted genetic markers, as provided in mtDNA, is particularly important. The maternal inheritance of mtDNA makes it analogous to the pattern of inheritance of surnames in many human societies, and just as surnames allow the tracing of human genealogies, so does mtDNA allow the tracing of matriarchical pedigrees in virtually any higher organism. The aims of this proposal are to: (1) develop novel measures of mitochondrial-nuclear associations; (2) determine the dynamics of these associations; (3) introduce novel statistical procedures for estimating these measures of association; (4) apply this new methodology to several real and hypothetical data sets on hybrid zones. Several hybrid zones are of considerable practical importance. The recently introduced species of fire ants, Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri, are a major agricultural pest in the Southeast. Similar concerns arise in the biological control of other agriculturally or medically important species complexes, such as the screw worm or the "yellow-fever" mosquito, Aedes aegypti.