Hybridisation leading to lost sex: genomic and experimental insights

该项目打算将先进的基因组学应用于两个经典的澳大利亚系统，并将数量遗传学应用于一个系统，以解决长期存在的问题，即为什么无性生殖很少。它的目的是测试伴随着杂交起源的无性动物基因组的快速变化，以及这种新的多样性是否能使它们继续进化。重要的是，对这一假设的支持将挑战当前关于性为何如此普遍的理论。预期的结果是了解在不同繁殖方式的自然种群中如何产生变异。好处包括对全球科学、进化训练和利用杂交管理受威胁物种或害虫的潜在应用作出重大贡献。

The project intends to apply advanced genomics to two classic Australian systems and quantitative genetics to one to address long-standing questions about why asexual reproduction is rare. It aims to test for rapid changes in genomes accompanying hybrid-origins of asexuals and whether this new diversity enables their ongoing evolution. The significance is that support for this hypothesis would challenge current theory for why sex is so common. The expected outcome is to understand how variation is generated in natural populations with different ways of reproducing. Benefits would include significant contributions to global science, evolutionary training and potential applications in using hybridisation to manage threatened species or pests.