RUI: Evolutionary Genetics of Sexual Conflict in Caenorhabditis

人类基因组中有数千个基因。是什么力量塑造了这些基因的进化？最近的研究表明，许多生物体中进化最快的基因可能是由围绕有性繁殖的激烈竞争和冲突驱动的。例如，在许多物种中，雌性会连续与不止一只雄性交配，这意味着不同雄性的精子必须竞争受精卵子。随着影响精子攻击能力、精子防御能力和女性控制精子使用的基因之间的进化冲突，精子竞争被认为导致了一场不断升级的“三方拉锯战”。这种围绕受精成功的永久冲突被假设为推动快速和持续的进化变化，类似于不断升级的军备竞赛。这项建议中概述的研究旨在测试男性与男性和男性与女性之间的冲突对于线虫属线虫受精成功相关基因进化的相对重要性。在这些物种中，可以比较具有非常不同的精子竞争机制但在其他方面极其相似的谱系之间的基因进化方式。利用分子生物学的标准技术，将研究与这些生物受精成功有关的两个基因的蛋白质进化速度和模式。

There are thousands of genes in the human genome. What forces have shaped the evolution of these genes? Recent research has suggested that the most rapidly evolving genes in many organisms may be driven by the intense competition and conflict that surrounds sexual reproduction. For example, females in many species will mate with more than one male in succession, which means that the sperm of different males must compete to fertilize eggs. Sperm competition is thought to result in an escalating, "three-way tug-of-war" as evolutionary conflicts are played out between the genes affecting sperm offensive abilities, sperm defensive abilities, and female control of sperm usage. This perpetual conflict surrounding fertilization success has been hypothesized to drive rapid and sustained evolutionary change, analogous to an escalating arms race.The research outlined in this proposal is designed to test the relative importance of male-male versus male-female conflict for the evolution of genes related to fertilization success in nematodes of the genus Caenorhabditis. In these species, it is possible to compare the way genes are evolving between lineages that have very different sperm competition regimes but are otherwise extremely similar to each other. Using standard techniques in molecular biology, the rates and patterns of protein evolution will be studied for two genes involved in fertilization success in these organisms.