DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Role of Recombination in Transposable Element Proliferation in Daphnia Pulex

转座因子（te）是DNA的一个区域，它具有在基因组中移动的能力。尽管它们长期被认为是“垃圾”，但TEs已被认为是真核生物基因组的重要和普遍存在的组成部分。因此，人们对影响TE运动动力学的因素非常感兴趣。有性生殖过程中宿主基因组之间的重组可能在TE增殖中起着特别有趣的作用，因为它同时提供了一种机制，通过这种机制可以很容易地获得TE（例如，由于DNA分子断裂和交换物质时的插入），并且有机会通过缺乏新插入的染色体的独立分类而丢失TE。以水蚤为模型，我们可以研究重组在有性和无性繁殖过程中TE增殖中的作用。了解TE的运动很重要，因为TE引入了自然选择可以作用的遗传变异的重要来源。在某些情况下，te插入基因并破坏正常功能导致疾病。或者，te可以插入到基因中或靠近基因，提供新的或调节功能。了解重组如何影响TE动力学是了解它们在基因组中的整体作用的关键部分。

Transposable elements (TEs) are regions of DNA that have the capacity to move around the genome in which they are found. Despite their longtime characterization as "junk", TEs have become recognized as important and ubiquitous components of eukaryotic genomes. As a result, there is great interest in what factors influence the dynamics of TE movement. Recombination among host genomes during sexual reproduction may have an especially interesting role in TE proliferation because it simultaneously provides a mechanism by which TEs may easily be gained (e.g. due to insertions when DNA molecules break and exchange material), and an opportunity for TEs to be lost via independent assortment of chromosomes lacking new insertions. Using Daphnia pulex as a model, we can examine the role of recombination in TE proliferation during both sexual and asexual reproduction.Understanding TE movement is important because TEs introduce a significant source of genetic variation upon which natural selection can act. In some cases, TEs insert into genes and disrupt normal function leading to disease. Alternatively, TEs can insert into or near genes, providing novel or regulatory function. Understanding how recombination influences TE dynamics is a key part of understanding their overall role in the genome.