Genetics of mate discrimination in Drosophila pseudoobscura

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的目的是揭示当一种动物物种变成两种时发生的遗传变化。具体而言，本研究将鉴定和表征导致伪眼果蝇行为交配歧视的基因或基因区域。与迄今为止分离出来的基因不同，在提议的工作中要鉴定的特定基因减少了当今野外的杂交，因此直接促进了物种形成。该物种是理想的研究对象，因为可以获得完整的基因组序列，并且在其群体中对行为交配歧视和物种形成的遗传学进行了广泛的研究。提出了三个目标：1)通过基因渗入精确定位与歧视相关的基因或区域，并利用转基因技术开展初步研究，以潜在地确认候选基因的身份；2)评估在鉴定位点上假肉芽甘蓝高歧视等位基因的频率；3)对多个菌株中涉及歧视的基因座所在区域进行重排序，以通过关联确定候选基因或snp，并检查可能对这些区域起作用的自然选择模式。还描述了几个附属目标。这项研究将填补一个重要的概念空白，并可能有助于理解包括人类在内的其他动物群体的物种起源。它还将使用模型系统推进行为遗传学和复杂性状遗传学领域，对发展关于人类行为和性状的假设具有潜在的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of the proposed research is uncover the genetic changes that occur when one animal species becomes two. Specifically, this research will identify and characterize genes or gene regions that cause behavioral mating discrimination in Drosophila pseudoobscura. Unlike genes isolated to date, the particular genes to be identified in the proposed work reduce interbreeding in the wild in the present day, and therefore have contributed to speciation directly. This species is ideal for the proposed research because of the availability of the full genome sequence and the extensive previous research performed on the genetics of behavioral mating discrimination and speciation in its group. Three goals are proposed: 1) precisely define the gene(s) or regions involved in discrimination via introgression, and conduct pilot studies to potentially confirm the candidate gene identities using transgenic techniques, 2) assess the frequency of the high discrimination alleles within D. pseudoobscura at the identified loci, and 3) resequence the regions bearing the loci involved in discrimination in multiple strains both to identify candidate genes or SNPs by association and to examine patterns of natural selection that may have operated on these regions. Several subsidiary goals are also described. This research will fill an important conceptual void and may aid in the understanding of the origin of species in other animal groups, including humans. It will also advance the area of behavioral genetics and the genetics of complex traits using a model system, with potential implications for developing hypotheses regarding human behaviors and traits.