GENETICS OF CYTOPLASMIC INCOMPATIBILITY

这项计划的目的是了解细胞质 内共生体，Wolbachia sp，一个成员的阿尔法细分的 变形菌，对它的宿主，面粉的进化遗传 拟谷盗Tribolium confusum. 变形菌门的成员，分类学上 与沃尔巴克氏体密切相关，在人类和其他哺乳动物中具有致病性。 沃尔巴克氏体对宿主有以下几种作用：（1）引起生殖 感染的男性和未感染的女性之间的不相容性;（2）其 增强受感染雄性交配后的生育能力， 与未感染的男性;和，（3）它会导致性别比例偏见，有利于 在某些宿主种群中 这三种效应都加快了 微生物在宿主中的传播。 的 对受感染男性的精子有重要影响， 细胞核不平衡的衰变率，并可导致非常 与X连锁宿主核相关的不平衡的复杂动力学 基因. 性别比例的扭曲将使这种动态进一步复杂化。 主机 已经发现了对不亲和性效应具有抗性的群体。 这些种群之所以具有抗药性，可能是因为它们体内的基因发生了变化， 宿主体内的沃尔巴克氏体，或者两者都有。 了解遗传机制 这种阻力是所提出的经验主义的主要目标之一， research. 这项研究将结合理论 群体遗传模型和实验室实验， 我们对这些基因的遗传和进化效应的理解 微生物在宿主体内

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.