The Ecological Genetics of Natural Populations of Ustilago violacea on Silene alba

9632338安东诺维奇遗传学定律预测，父母双方贡献给后代的基因将再次以50：50的比例出现在后代的配子中。然而，越来越多的人发现，一些基因是“自私的”，会改变传播模式，从而有利于它们在后代中的表现。这项研究将调查这种有偏见的传播的一个可能的例子，涉及决定真菌交配类型的基因，这种真菌感染并使普通植物物种的花不育。由于相反交配类型的细胞融合是真菌致病所必需的，这种偏见应该是不利的，但它却在自然种群中传播。将调查这种偏见的原因及其传播的可能原因。这项研究对于了解疾病在自然和农业植物种群中的传播，以及了解基因传播中的不寻常机制非常重要。这些机制可能有助于设计特定基因的快速传播，这些基因要么限制病原体的生长，要么增强用于生物防治杂草的病原体的传播。

9632338 Antonovics The laws of genetics predict that the genes contributed by each parent to their progeny will again reappear in a 50:50 ratio in the gametes of the progeny. However, increasingly it has been found that some genes are "selfish" and alter the pattern of transmission so as to favor their representation in future generations. This study will investigate a possible example of such biased transmission involving the gene determining the mating type of a fungus that infects and sterilizes the flowers of a common plant species. Since fusion of cells of opposite mating types is necessary for the fungus to cause disease, the bias should be disadvantageous, but instead it has spread in natural populations. The cause of the bias and possible reasons for its spread will be investigated. The study is important in understanding disease spread in natural and agricultural plant populations, and in understanding unusual mechanisms in genetic transmission. These mechanisms may prove useful for engineering the rapid spread of particular genes that either limit pathogen growth, or enhance the spread of pathogens used in the biological control of weeds.