Defining the Role of Seminal Proteins in Reproductive Isolation Between Closely Related Insect Species: Genomic and Proteomic Approaches

Cornell Univ - State: Awds Made Prior May 2010, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

One of the fundamental goals of biodiversity studies is to understand how new species arise. This process, termed speciation, involves the origin of barriers to genetic exchange between diverging populations. Recent studies in a variety of organisms have shown that rapid evolution of proteins involved in animal reproduction can lead to genetic barriers. The goal of this project is to define the molecular basis of reproductive isolation between a pair of closely related insect species. Modern genomic and proteomic approaches will be used to identify and characterize rapidly evolving reproductive proteins in these insects and to test how these proteins contribute to observed barriers to fertilization. Understanding the diversity of mechanisms involved in speciation requires insights from a variety of model systems. The insects studied here have been very well characterized with respect to ecology, behavior, and population genetics, and these data provide the essential context for analyses at the molecular level. Knowledge of barriers to fertilization in insects has potential consequences for understanding similar barriers in other organisms. To provide even broader impacts, this project includes a major educational component: the development of materials and museum exhibits designed to educate the general public about speciation and the role of reproductive isolation in the origin of biodiversity.