Theoretical population and quantitative genetics: Consequences of epistasis for postzgotic isolation and seletion response

遗传相互作用，或上位性，是种群生物学的一个中心特征，影响着种群内的遗传变异如何转化为种群之间的可观察到的差异，以及初始物种之间的生殖隔离如何演变。上位性的这两个方面将使用数学和计算分析相结合的方法进行研究。在过去的十年里，越来越清楚的是，在独立进化的谱系中，自然选择所支持的遗传变异之间的有害相互作用往往会导致杂交后代的死亡和不育。这些遗传不相容会产生可重复的杂交功能障碍模式。通过将数学模型与100多年来关于杂交功能障碍的数据联系起来，人们可以理解遗传不亲和性的数量和性质，这是物种起源的一个关键方面。现有的描述杂交功能障碍和种群变化的遗传模型是高度理想化的。因此，他们结论的稳健性必须用更一般的模型来检验。这项研究将开发生物信息的数学模型，做出可检验的预测，供研究物种起源和种群对自然选择和人工选择的反应的研究人员使用。这项研究将与美国国家科学基金会资助的数学和生物？为本科生提供培训补助金，并将促进国际合作，并在美国和海外培养研究生和博士后。

Genetic interactions, or epistasis, are a central feature of population biology, affecting how genetic variation within populations is translated into observable differences among populations and how reproductive isolation evolves between incipient species. Both of these aspects of epistasis will be studied using a combination of mathematical and computational analyses. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that deleterious interactions between genetic variants that have been favored by natural selection within independently evolving lineages often cause inviability and sterility of hybrids. These genetic incompatibilities produce repeatable patterns of hybrid dysfunction. By relating mathematical models to more than 100 years of data on hybrid dysfunction, one can understand the number and nature of the genetic incompatibilities that are a key aspect of the origin of species. The existing genetic models describing both hybrid dysfunction and population change are highly idealized. Hence, the robustness of their conclusions must be tested with more general models. This research will develop biologically informed mathematical models that make testable predictions that can be used by researchers studying the origin of species and the responses of populations to natural and artificial selection. The research will be integrated with an NSF-funded ?mathematics and biology? training grant for undergraduates and will foster international collaboration and the training of graduate students and postdoctorals in the US and abroad.