GENETICS OF CYTOPLASMIC INCOMPATIBILITY

这项提议的目的是了解细胞质 内生共生菌Wolbchia sp.，隶属于 变形杆菌--关于其宿主面粉的进化遗传学 甲虫，迷惑拟谷盗。分类上属于变形杆菌的成员 与沃尔巴克氏菌密切相关，在人类和其他哺乳动物中都是致病的。 沃尔巴克氏菌对寄主有几种影响：(1)引起生殖 感染的男性和未感染的女性不相容；(2)其 在竞争时提高受感染雄性的交配后生育力 与未感染的男性；以及，(3)它导致了有利于 一些寄主种群中的雌性。所有这三种效应都加速了这一速度。 微生物通过宿主种群传播的可能性。这个 对感染男性精子的优势对 细胞-核不平衡的衰减率，并可能导致 X-连锁宿主核不平衡的复杂动力学 基因。性别比扭曲将使情况进一步复杂化。寄主 已经发现了对不亲和性效应具有抗性的种群。 这些种群可能具有抵抗力，因为 沃尔巴克氏菌，在宿主中，或两者兼而有之。了解心力衰竭的遗传机制 这种阻力是拟议的经验主义的关键目标之一。 研究。拟议的研究将使用理论和实践相结合的 种群遗传模型和经验性实验室实验进一步 我们对这些基因和进化影响的理解 寄主上的微生物。

The goal is this proposal is to understand the effect of a cytoplasmic endosymbiont, Wolbachia sp, a member of the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria, on the evolutionary genetics of its host, the flour beetle, Tribolium confusum. Members of the Proteobacteria, taxonomically closely related to Wolbachia, are pathogenic in humans and other mammals. The Wolbachia has several effects on its host: (1) it causes reproductive incompatibility between infected males and noninfected females; (2) its enhances the post-copulatory fertility of infected males when competing with uninfected males; and, (3) it causes a sex ratio bias favoring females in some host populations. All three effects accelerate the rate of spread of the microorganism through the host population. The advantage to the sperm of infected males has important effects on the rate of decay of cyto-nuclear disequilibria and can result in very complex dynamics for disequilibria associated with X-linked host nuclear genes. Sex ratio distortion will further complicate the dynamics. Host populations resistant to the incompatibility effect have been discovered. These populations may be resistant because of genetic changes in the Wolbachia, in the host, or both. Understanding the genetic mechanism of this resistance is one of the key goals of the proposed empirical research. The proposed research will use a combination of theoretical population genetic models and empirical laboratory experiments to further our understanding of genetic and evolutionary effects of such microorganisms on their hosts.