Evolutionary Genetics of Male Reproduction in House Mice

生物学的一个重要目标是了解生育力变异的遗传基础。最近在许多生物体中的研究表明，涉及雄性生殖的基因可能受到强烈的自然选择的影响。这项拟议的工作试图以家鼠为模型，了解男性生育能力变异的遗传基础。这项研究的具体目标是：(1)记录家鼠自然种群中雄性生殖基因的遗传变异模式；(2)测量野生小鼠种群中多父子关系(即混合父子关系的个体)的频率；(3)在实验室测量雄性精子竞争能力的差异，并测量精子竞争表型的遗传力；以及(4)进行关联研究，以确定导致精子竞争差异的基因。这项工作的更广泛的意义是双重的。首先，将提高对进化论和生殖生物学基本原理的理解，并将广泛传播结果。所有数据都将向公众开放，所有结果都将公布。在雄性小鼠身上发现的一些或许多基因很可能也与人类雄性生育有关，因此可能与人类健康有关。第二，这项工作将为本科生和研究生提供培训机会。当地高中教师将被纳入暑期研究，目的是促进大学和中学教育工作者之间更好的联系，从而促进科学教育的卓越。

An important goal in biology is to understand the genetic basis of variation in fertility. Recent work in many organisms has shown that genes involved in male reproduction, in particular, may be subject to strong natural selection. The proposed work seeks to understand the genetic basis of variation in male fertility using the house mouse as a model. The specific objectives of this research are to (1) document patterns of genetic variation in male reproductive genes in natural populations of house mice, (2) measure the frequency of multiple paternity (i.e. individual litters of mixed paternity) in wild populations of mice, (3) measure variation among males in sperm competitive ability in the laboratory and measure the heritability of sperm competition phenotypes, and (4) conduct association studies to identify genes that underlie variation in sperm competition. The broader significance of this work is two-fold. First, understanding of the basic principles of evolution and of the biology of reproduction will be improved, and results will be disseminated broadly. All data will be publicly available and all results will be published. It is likely that some or many of the genes identified in male mice will also be involved in human male fertility, and thus may be relevant for human health. Second, this work will provide training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Local high school teachers will be included in summer research, with the aim of fostering better links between the university and secondary school educators, and thereby promoting excellence in science education.