Evolution of the C. elegans MSP Gene Family

本研究涉及秀丽隐杆线虫及其相关线虫的主要精子蛋白基因家族的遗传结构。基因家族似乎是细胞大量产生某些蛋白质的适应性解决方案，而MSP基因复合体是这种进化模式的范例。秀丽隐杆线虫的MSP由40-50个基因编码，这些基因出现在两条染色体上的四个簇中。集群内的基因序列比不同集群内的基因序列更相似。基因家族进化的假设机制包括来自祖先基因的重复基因在集群内的“辐射”（在这种情况下，相似性是由血统决定的）和基因转换，其中序列信息在集群内通过不平等交叉或其他类似机制均匀化。研究者将通过比较秀丽隐杆线虫不同菌株和同一属的其他物种之间的MSP复合物的结构来验证这些和其他假设。基因家族进化的机制是根据群体遗传学制定的，但比较方法，包括估计基因家族的系统发育，严重依赖于系统生物学的原则，而主要目标是了解这类重要的真核基因的结构；因此，这项研究是真正的跨学科研究。

This research is concerned with the genetic architecture of the MSP (major sperm protein) gene family in Caenorhabditis elegans and related nematodes. Gene families appear to be adaptive solutions to the demand that cells produce certain kinds of proteins in great abundance, and the MSP gene complex is a paradigm for this evolutionary mode. MSP in C. elegans is coded by 40-50 genes that occur in four clusters on two chromosomes. Genes within clusters are more similar in sequence than are genes residing in different clusters. Hypothetical mechanisms for the evolution of gene families include the "radiation" of duplicate genes within a cluster from an ancestral gene (in which case similarity is by descent) and gene conversion in which sequence information is homogenized within a cluster by unequal crossing over or some comparable mechanism. The investigator will test these and other hypotheses by comparing the architecture of the MSP complex between various strains of C. elegans and other species in the same genus. The mechanisms of gene family evolution are formulated in terms of population genetics but the comparative methodology, to include stimating phylogenies for gene families, draws heavily on the principles of systematic biology, whereas a major goal is to understand the structure of this important class of eukaryotic genes; thus, this research is truly interdisciplinary.