CAREER/RUI: Genetic Basis of Sperm Precedence and Sex-Specific Fitness in Fruit Flies

小行星9734008 该项目建立在以前的研究基础上，表明果蝇雄性生育力的遗传变异是由于第三染色体上的一个或几个主效基因。 果蝇的其他适应性特征（雌性生殖力，雄性交配成功率，幼虫生存能力）似乎受到许多小或中等影响的基因变异的影响，因此雄性生殖力在其遗传决定中是不寻常的。 将进行一项实验，将影响男性生育力的基因定位到染色体上的特定位置。 预计这一映射最终将导致 鉴定导致性状变异的基因。 测量这些基因的特定性质（例如，平均效应、显性和上位性）将提供变异原因模型的明确检验。 另一项实验涉及测量遗传和环境 对性别特异性适应性变异的贡献。 本实验的目的之一是确定对一种性别有有益影响，但对另一种性别有有害影响（性拮抗效应）的基因是否参与维持体内的遗传变异。 人口。 该项目的第二个主要重点是教育。本科生将参与研究工作的每个阶段。 此外，利用分子遗传技术的新课程和课程单元将被引入本科课程。 包括人类在内的生物群体在生殖、发育速率、寿命和抗病性方面具有遗传多样性。 因为它们在很大程度上决定了一个有机体的一生繁殖产量，这些生活史特征应该受到非常强大的力量的影响，消除变异。 然而，大多数种群保留了这些特征的大量变异。 群体遗传学的主要目标之一是了解 负责维持这种变化。 遗传多样性可直接影响人类健康和寿命（当它发生在人类或人类病原体中时），对农业系统的生产力（当它发生在农业上重要的物种中时），以及对受威胁和濒危物种灭绝的风险（当它发生在这些物种、其病原体或其竞争对手中时）。 该提案描述了两个相关的项目，旨在调查生活史特征的遗传基础，并测试特定的理论模型的维护， 遗传多样性 该项目的教育重点是本科研究人员，并将新的分子技术引入课堂。

9734008 Hughes This project builds upon previous research indicating that genetic variation for male fertility in Drosophila melanogaster is due to one or a few major-effect genes on the third chromosome. Other fitness traits in fruit flies (female fecundity, male mating success, larval viability) seem to be affected by variation at many genes of small or moderate effect, so male fertility is unusual in its genetic determination. An experiment will be conducted to map genes affecting male fertility to specific locations on the chromosome. It is expected that this mapping will eventually lead to the identification of genes causing variation in the trait. Measurement of specific properties of these genes (e.g., average effect, dominance and epistasis) will provide explicit tests of models of the causes of variation. Another experiment involves measuring genetic and environmental contributions to variation for sex-specific fitness. One of the goals of this experiment is to determine whether genes that have beneficial effects on one sex, but deleterious effects on the other (sexually-antagonistic effects) are involved in the maintenance of genetic variation within populations. The second primary emphasis of this project is educational. Undergraduate students will be involved in every phase of the research effort. In addition, new courses and course modules that exploit molecular genetic techniques will be introduced into the undergraduate curriculum. Populations of organisms, including humans, are genetically diverse for traits related to reproduction, developmental rate, lifespan, and disease resistance. Because they largely determine the lifetime reproductive output of an organism, these life-history traits should be subject to very strong forces that eliminate variation. Yet most populations retain substantial variation for these traits. One of the main goals of population genetics is to gain an understanding of the forces responsible for maintaining this variat ion. Genetic diversity can have a direct impact on human health and longevity (when it occurs in humans or in human pathogens), on the productivity of agricultural systems (when it occurs in agriculturally important species), and on the risks of extinction for threatened and endangered species (when it occurs in these species, their pathogens, or their competitors). This proposal describes two related projects designed to investigate the genetic basis of life-history traits, and to test specific theoretical models of the maintenance of genetic diversity. The educational emphasis of this project is focused on undergraduate researchers, and the introduction of new molecular techniques into the classroom.