DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genetic Determinants of Postzygotic Isolation in Xenopus

种群如何在繁殖上相互隔离，从而形成新的物种，仍然是进化生物学中的一个重要问题。当两个物种杂交时，后代通常有生育问题，通常是异配子性别（ZW或XY）最不正常。这种模式被称为霍尔丹规则，因为它适用于大多数动物的生活而引人注目。这个项目将通过杂交两种非洲爪蛙来解决这个问题：1)识别与生殖隔离有关的基因；2)通过使用性别反转实验来检验霍尔丹法则的雄性更快进化假说。他们将在全基因组水平上使用微阵列检测基因表达，以识别杂交雄性中错误表达的基因，并揭示导致物种间生殖隔离的染色体特异性效应。他们的研究创建了UTA两栖动物研究机构。该设施扩大了UTA生物系的基础设施，并有助于扩大UTA基因组生物学计划。本科生将通过学习分子生物学和进化生物学的强大方法直接受益于该设施。这些任务培养培养下一代科学和医学专业人员的重要技能。

How populations become reproductively isolated to form new species remains an important problem in evolutionary biology. When two species hybridize the offspring typically have fertility problems and usually it is the heterogametic sex (ZW or XY) that is most dysfunctional. This pattern has been termed Haldane's rule and is remarkable because it applies to most animal life. This project will address this problem by crossing two species of African clawed frogs to 1) identify genes involved in reproductive isolation and 2) test the faster male evolution hypothesis for Haldane's rule through use of a sex-reversal experiment. They will examine gene expression at the whole genome level using microarrays to identify genes misexpressed in hybrid males and reveal the chromosome specific effects that cause reproductive isolation between species.Their research has created the UTA Amphibian Research Facility. This facility has expanded the infrastructure of the UTA Department of Biology and contributes to the expanding Genome Biology Program at UTA. Undergraduate students will directly benefit from this facility through opportunities to learn powerful approaches in molecular and evolutionary biology. These tasks develop important skills that train the next generation of science and medical professionals.