Dissertation Research: Evolution of Reproductive Proteins in Peromyscus

参与繁殖的蛋白质是各种生物体中进化最快的基因之一。这种引人注目的模式特别令人感兴趣，因为生殖蛋白介导物种特有的受精，因此有可能对物种形成过程做出贡献。在哺乳动物中，雄性和雌性生殖蛋白的适应性进化已经在远缘物种中被记录下来。这个项目将研究近缘鹿鼠(Permyscus属)物种之间的生殖蛋白进化。这项研究将利用分子和统计方法，(1)鉴定鹿小鼠睾丸中表达的快速进化的蛋白质，(2)表征交配系统对进化速度的影响，以及(3)研究雄性生殖蛋白质在一个物种(P.truei)内的变异。这项工作将提供一个详细的了解生殖蛋白是如何在密切相关的物种之间进化的，其中生殖障碍起作用。这项工作将有助于理解生殖蛋白的进化动力学。该项目的更广泛影响将是(1)提供一个基于网络的程序，允许科学家将任何组织中表达的基因与相关物种的基因组进行比较；(2)提供有关精子蛋白质快速进化区域的信息，这些区域可能对其生殖功能至关重要；以及3)通过培训本科生将教学和研究结合起来。

Proteins involved in reproduction are among the most rapidly evolving genes in a wide variety of organisms. This striking pattern is of particular interest as reproductive proteins mediate species-specific fertilization, and thus have the potential to contribute to the speciation process. In mammals, adaptive evolution of male and female reproductive proteins has been documented among distantly related species. This project will investigate reproductive protein evolution between closely related species of deermice (genus Peromyscus). Using molecular and statistical approaches, this study will (1) identify rapidly evolving proteins expressed in deermice testis, (2) characterize the effects of mating system on rates of evolution, and (3) examine variation of male reproductive proteins within one species (P. truei). This work will provide a detailed understanding of how reproductive proteins have evolved between closely related species, where reproductive barriers act.This work will significantly contribute to the understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of reproductive proteins. The broader impacts of this project will be (1) providing a web-based program allowing scientists to compare genes expressed in any tissue to the genome of a related species, (2) providing information about rapidly evolving regions of sperm proteins which may be important for their reproductive functions, and 3) integrating teaching and research by training undergraduates.