Molecular Evolution of Genes Expressed in D. Melanogaster Sperm Storage Structures.

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

This project is designed to investigate genes expressed in sperm storage organs (SSOs) in female Drosophila melanogaster. SSOs potentially play an important role in a range of evolutionary phenomena including co-evolution and speciation. Given the prominent role of D. melanogaster as a model for evolutionary and genetic studies, it is surprising that so little is known about the evolution of genes characteristically expressed in SSOs and that little is known about the function of these genes. The investigators will examine the function of a set of these genes defined by molecular evolution data, molecular population genetic data and information suggesting that certain genes play a direct role in sperm storage. The sequences generated from this project will be deposited in the public database, NCBI/GenBank, in timely manner. A project website will be developed to provide information about the progress of the research and to provide the research community access to all sequence data. The grant will contribute to educational outcomes in various ways. First, both graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in the research. Second, the co-PI (Moriyama) will incorporate statistical methods used in the project and the results into her course. Third, the PI (Harshman) will expand the population genetic component of his honors human genetics course and its graduate student counterpart.