Dissertation Research: Comparative Y Chromosome Diversity and Evolution in the Hominoidea

锤子9801498分子工具在进化论和人类学问题上的应用在理解人类和类人猿进化方面发挥了重要作用。在过去的十年里，人们对人类体内的遗传变异进行了大量研究，同时还就这种变异的水平和模式的重要性展开了激烈的科学辩论。为了增加我们对人类进化的历史背景以及它在过去数百万年中是如何形成的理解，必须建立一个比较的进化框架，探索人类以及我们最接近的现存近亲--类人猿--的基因变异。本研究建议量化常见黑猩猩、侏儒黑猩猩、大猩猩和猩猩的父系遗传Y染色体遗传变异的数量和这种多样性的地理分布，以(1)提供一个比较框架，以更好地了解现代人中所见的多样性模式和水平的意义，以及(2)为了保护和圈养繁殖的目的，更好地了解这些濒危物种中存在的种群之间的进化关系和联系。可能影响Y染色体变异水平和模式的因素，以及随后推断的种群、亚种和物种的进化关系，如性别特定的交配和迁徙行为与Y染色体地理结构之间的一致性，以及关于进化过程本身的假设，将被研究。最近对母系遗传线粒体DNA的研究已经开始量化遗传变异的水平，以及这种变异在人类和类人猿物种内部和之间的地理分布。与类人猿物种(特别是大猩猩和猩猩)相比，人类的线粒体遗传多样性相对较低，这表明在人类进化史上发生了一些独特的事件。然而，任何一个遗传标记提出的遗传多样性的历史关系和水平可能准确地反映种群和物种的历史或遗传多样性的整体水平。需要对其他遗传位点进行互补性研究，以更好地了解这些群体中存在的总体遗传变异和结构。由于对人类整体遗传变异的了解直接关系到对这些群体进化史之间的异同的更多了解，这种对父系遗传变异和种群历史的比较评估将提供对人类以及黑猩猩、大猩猩和猩猩进化史的更多洞察。

Hammer 9801498 The application of molecular tools to evolutionary and anthropological questions plays an important role in understanding human and great ape evolution. The past decade has fostered a tremendous amount of research into genetic variation within humans, accompanied by vigorous scientific debate about the significance of the levels and patterns of that variation. To increase our understanding of the historical context of human evolution and how it has been shaped over the last several million years, a comparative evolutionary framework that explores the genetic variation in humans as well as in our closest living relatives, the great apes, must be generated. This study proposes to quantify the amount of paternally-inherited Y chromosome genetic variation and the geographic distribution of that diversity in common chimpanzees, pygmy chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans in order to (1) provide a comparative framework with which to better understand the significance of patterns and levels of diversity seen in modern humans, and (2) to better understand the evolutionary relationships and connections between populations that exist within these endangered species for conservation and captive breeding purposes. Factors that can potentially affect levels and patterns of Y chromosome variation and subsequently the deduced evolutionary relationships of populations, subspecies, and species such as the congruence between sex-specific mating and migration behaviors and Y chromosome geographic structure will be investigated, as will hypotheses about the evolutionary processes itself. Recent studies of maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA have begun to quantify levels of genetic variation and the geographic distribution of that variation within and between humans and the great ape species. Humans have been shown to have comparatively low mitochondrial genetic diversity in comparison to the great ape species (gorillas and orangutans in particular), suggesting some unique events i n human evolutionary history. The historical relationships and levels of genetic diversity suggested by any one single genetic marker may accurately reflect both population and species history nor overall levels of genetic diversity, however. Complementary studies of other genetic loci are needed to better understand the overall genetic variation and structure present in these groups. As an understanding of overall genetic variation of humans is tied directly to an increased understanding of similarities and differences between the evolutionary histories of these groups, this comparative assessment of paternal genetic variation and population history will provide greater insight into the evolutionary history of humans as well as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.