Genetics of Reinforcement in Drosophila

998079穆罕默德·努尔许多物种通过不交配来保持其独特性。一个流行但有争议的进化理论，称为强化理论，认为个体与另一个物种的个体交配通常会产生不育的杂交后代，因此自然选择直接倾向于赋予强烈配偶选择的遗传因素。然而，很少有令人信服的强化实验案例被记录下来，而且试图估计其发生频率的数学理论缺乏有关其遗传基础的信息。这个项目将是第一个研究强化的遗传基础的项目，它将在北美果蝇中进行。这个物种的整个基因组都有标记物，它很容易在实验室培养，所以它非常适合这样的研究。这项工作的结果将为这一过程的现实数学模型提供必要的遗传参数，并且它将为作为自然选择产物而进化的行为的遗传基础提供一般信息。现代进化生物学家对基因如何在种群内进化有着令人印象深刻的理解，但对一个物种如何分裂成两个物种的理解相对较差。这项研究将阐明物种形成的机制，为调控地球生物多样性的基本进化过程提供见解。

9980797Mohamed NoorMany species remain distinct by not mating with one another. One popular but controversial evolutionary theory, called reinforcement, suggests that individuals who mate with individuals of another species will often produce sterile hybrids, so natural selection directly favors genetic factors that confer strong mate choice. Few convincing experimental cases of reinforcement have been documented, though, and mathematical theories that try to estimate how often it occurs lack information on its genetic basis. This project will be the first to study the genetic basis of reinforcement, and it will do so in the North American fruit fly Drosophila pseudoobscura. Markers have been developed throughout the genome of this species, and it cultures readily in the laboratory, so it is highly amenable to such a study. The results of this work will then provide the genetic parameters necessary for realistic mathematical models of this process, and it will be generally informative with regard to the genetic basis of behaviors that evolve as a product of natural selection.Modern evolutionary biologists have an impressive understanding of how genes evolve within populations, but a relatively poor understanding of how one species splits into two. This research will illuminate the mechanisms of speciation, providing insights into the fundamental evolutionary processes that regulate biodiversity on earth.