Partial Selfing and the Genetic Basis of Mating System Variation

交配系统的变异是动植物种群遗传变异模式的主要决定因素之一。除了少数特殊情况外，这些差异的原因，无论是从近似的遗传变化还是从最终的生态结果来看，几乎是完全未知的。本项目旨在揭示线虫模型系统——秀丽隐杆线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）中交配系统变异的遗传基础，并将这些信息与理论模型的预测结合起来，研究突变输入水平的变化如何影响不同形式有性生殖之间的过渡。交配系统遗传学将使用高通量功能基因组方法进行评估，预测将通过直接基因操作突变率和个体产生雄性后代的倾向进行实验测试。这项研究将进一步加深我们对产生植物和动物交配系统巨大差异的机制的理解。这里研究的过程是描述农业和自然系统，特别是濒危植物和动物物种的变异和变化的基础。线虫本身是地球上数量最多但研究不足的生物群体之一，也是重要的动植物病原体。

Variation in mating systems is one of the primary determinants of the pattern of genetic variation within plant and animal populations. The cause of these differences, both in terms of proximate genetic changes and ultimate ecological outcomes, is almost completely unknown except in a few specialized cases. This project aims to undercover the genetic basis of mating system variation within the well-studied nematode model system, Caenorhabditis elegans, and to use this information together with predictions from theoretical models to investigate how changing levels of mutational input affect the transition between different forms of sexual reproduction. Mating system genetics will be assessed using high throughput functional genomic approaches, and the predictions will be tested experimentally using direct genetic manipulation of mutation rate and an individual's propensity to produce male offspring.This research should further our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for generating the tremendous variation in mating systems in both plants and animals. The processes studied here are fundamental to describing variation and change in agricultural and natural systems, especially in endangered species of plants and animals. Nematodes themselves are one of the most numerous, yet understudied, groups of organisms on earth and are important animal and plant pathogens.