Evolution of anisogamy and the sexes

该项目旨在研究异性婚配的进化，即根据配子的大小来定义男性和女性--女性的大卵子和男性的小精子。大多数多细胞生物有不同大小的配子，这种大小的差异影响了地球上生命的进化。关于两性为什么普遍存在的理论论证还没有得到实证检验，主要是因为在实验中产生不同大小的配子存在技术困难。该项目将使用藻类和细胞分选技术来测试这一点。预计的结果是更好地了解两性是如何以及为什么进化的，以及通过为提高藻类生产力铺平道路来开发生物燃料生产方法。

This project aims to study the evolution of anisogamy, which defines males and females by the size of their gametes – females’ large eggs and males’ small sperm. Most multicellular organisms have different sized gametes, and this size difference has affected the evolution of life on the planet. Theoretical arguments about why two sexes are ubiquitous have not been tested empirically, mainly because of technical difficulties in experimentally generating different sized gametes. This project will use algae and cell sorting technology to test this. The expected outcome is a greater understanding of how and why the sexes evolved, as well as developing biofuel production methods by paving the way for improvements in algal productivity.