The Genetic Mechanisms and Processes Driving Mitonuclear Coevolution in Admixed Populations

线粒体的功能是必不可少的健身，但依赖于蛋白质编码的核和线粒体基因组内的呼吸复合体有效地相互作用。当这两个基因组具有不同的遗传模式和突变率，编码“错配”蛋白质时，可能会出现与适应性降低相关的线粒体不相容性。大的差异是已知的，导致物种形成，但温和的物种内的影响，通过广泛的混合物事件产生的，少得多的理解，特别是在自然种群。计算群体遗传学技术将用于识别自然混合的现代拉丁美洲人群中共同进化的线粒体和核基因对，从而对驱动广泛时间尺度共同进化的基因座进行新的见解。实验进化技术将被用来模拟果蝇的混合物事件，这将使我们能够直接通过时间跟踪线粒体共同进化的变化，并确定共同进化过程的共性。将在物种和种群之间比较线粒体特征，以帮助确定推动共同进化的基本过程的趋势以及未来对脆弱群体的潜在后果。这将进一步考虑到环境温度，已知是线粒体适应性的关键选择压力。

Mitochondrial function is essential to fitness but is dependent upon proteins encoded in the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes interacting efficiently within respiratory complexes. Mitonuclear incompatibilities, associated with decreased fitness, can arise when these two genomes, with separate modes of inheritance and mutation rates, encode for "mismatched" proteins. Large differences are known to lead to speciation, however milder intra-species effects, generated through widespread admixture events, are much less well understood, especially in natural populations. Computational population genetics techniques will be used to identify coevolving mitochondrial and nuclear gene pairs in naturally admixed modern Latin American populations, allowing for novel insight into the loci driving coevolution across broad timescales. Experimental evolution techniques will be used to simulate an admixture event in Drosophila melanogaster; this will allow us to track changes in mitonuclear coevolution directly through time and identify generalities of the coevolutionary process. Mitonuclear signatures will be compared across species and populations to help identify trends in the underlying processes driving coevolution and the potential consequences for vulnerable populations in the future. This will further be considered in the light of environmental temperature, known to be a key selective pressure on mitochondrial fitness.