Pedigree reconstruction , mating systems, reproductive success and quantitative genetics of natural populations

近年来，人们对利用分子信息推断自然种群或缺乏谱系信息的人工种群中个体之间的谱系关系的可能性产生了相当大的兴趣。当父母的DNA图谱可用时，这很容易。当没有亲代数据时，明确系谱重建的问题相当复杂，必须使用计算机密集型方法。该计划的主要目标是进一步改进和扩展过去几年开发的用于系谱重建的计算机程序，以便研究团体可以使用强大且用户友好的工具来研究亲缘分布并估计迄今为止极其困难的自然和半自然群体中的关键遗传参数。这项研究还将在两个关键的模型自然系统中使用这些方法，两个正在经历严重衰退和濒临消失的鲑鱼种群，以及一个正在加拿大大西洋沿岸蔓延的水生入侵物种。这项工作将在研究两种濒危鲑鱼种群的交配系统、繁殖成功率和亲缘关系的时空分布方面产生新的发现。这将阐明小种群进化和保护的几个关键方面，例如近亲繁殖在灭绝中的可能作用以及圈养繁殖计划的遗传后果。在生物多样性问题的另一端，该计划将在几个空间尺度上与水生入侵物种的爆炸性增长相关的遗传维度上产生新的发现，并有助于预测加拿大大西洋沿岸“热点”种群的扩散和增长。

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the possibility of using molecular information to infer genealogical (pedigree) relationships among individuals in natural populations or in cultivated populations where this pedigree information is lacking. When parental DNA profiles are available, this is easy. When parental data are not available, the problem of explicit pedigree reconstruction is considerably more complex and computer intensive approaches have to be used. The broad objectives of the proposed program are to further improve and broaden the computer programs that have been developed over the last few years for pedigree reconstruction, so that the research community can have access to powerful and user-friendly tools to study the distribution of relatedness and estimate key genetic parameters in natural and semi natural populations where this has been extremely difficult so far. This research will also use these approaches in two key model natural systems, two salmon populations experiencing severe decline and on the verge of disappearance and an aquatic invasive species that is spreading on Canada's Atlantic coast. This work will generate new findings in the study of mating systems, reproductive success, and spatio-temporal distribution of relatedness in the two endangered salmon populations. This will cast light on several crucial aspects of the evolution and conservation of small populations, such as the possible role of inbreeding in extinction and the genetic consequences of captive breeding programs. At the other end of the spectrum of biodiversity concerns, this program will result in new findings on the genetic dimension associated at several spatial scales with the explosive growth of an aquatic invasive species, and could help predict the dispersal and growth of tunicates "hot spots" populations on Canada's Atlantic coast.