DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Interaction of gene flow, selection and genomic architecture on the genetics of adaptation

生物体生活在复杂的环境中，这些环境以各种不可预测的方式塑造着复杂的身体特征的遗传基础。了解这些特征的遗传基础可能会受到数百个基因的影响，这对于了解种群如何应对环境变化至关重要。野生物种往往存在于分布在不同环境中的亚种群中，每个环境可能会经历不同的条件。然而，亚种群是可以联系在一起的，因为个体跨越太空旅行，然后与其他亚种群中的个体交配。最近对野生物种的研究表明，即使发生了迁徙和基因流动，不同环境中的种群仍保持其独特性。科学家们感兴趣的是确定种群如何保持这种基因分离。因此，对特定性状的遗传基础的研究可能有助于揭示这一现象。这项研究的重点是一个系统，在这个系统中，研究人员可以控制迁徙，然后检查不同种群独有的特征的遗传基础。研究人员特别感兴趣的是生物体如何对新的热应激环境做出反应。这项工作将有助于培养研究生和代表性不足的少数民族。本研究将利用模型线虫来(1)研究迁徙和选择如何相互作用来影响种群适应新的热应激环境的能力，以及(2)剖析热应激抗性的遗传基础。该项目将利用实验进化和下一代测序来剖析慢性热应激抵抗的遗传基础。通过将非适应个体迁徙的影响纳入热应激环境，这项研究不仅将找到抗热应激遗传基础的决定因素，还将直接检验低水平迁徙增加新适应背后的遗传信号强度的假说。

Organisms live in complex environments that shape the genetic basis of complex physical traits in varying and unpredictable ways. Understanding the genetic basis of such traits, which can be affected by hundreds of genes, is vital to understanding how populations respond to environmental change. Species in the wild often exist in subpopulations spread across different environments, and each environment may experience different conditions. However, subpopulations can be connected because individuals travel across space and then mate with individuals in other subpopulations. Recent studies on species in the wild have shown that even though migration and gene flow occurs, populations in different environments retain their uniqueness. Scientists are interested in determining how populations retain this genetic separation. Therefore, studies of the genetic basis of particular traits may shed light on this phenomenon. This study focuses on a system where the researchers can control migration and then examine the genetic underpinnings of traits that are unique to different populations. In particular the researchers are interested in how organisms respond to a novel heat stress environment. The work will aid in the training of a graduate student and underrepresented minorities. This study will use the model nematode Caenorhabditis remanei to (1) examine how migration interacts with selection to affect the ability of a population to adapt to a novel heat stress environment, and (2) dissect the genetic basis of heat stress resistance. This project will use experimental evolution and next generation sequencing to dissect the genetic basis of chronic heat stress resistance. By including the effects of migration of non-adapted individuals into a heat stressed environment, this study will not only find the determinants of the genetic basis of heat stress resistance, but will also directly test the hypothesis that low levels of migration increase the strength of the genetic signal underlying novel adaptations.