CAREER: Integrating Theory & Data to Uncover the Evolutionary Advantages of Recombination

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State MS

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This research will advance our understanding of the evolution of the rates at which genes are shuffled among pairs of chromosomes (recombination). Reproduction in plants and animals requires recombination. Recombination rates differ between species and populations, and can even vary among and within the chromosomes of an individual. The rate of recombination influences the fate of mutations and the process of adaptation, but the causes and consequences of recombination rate variation are poorly understood. This project will advance evolutionary theory about the conditions which favor different recombination rates. The work will also increase student understanding of the interface of theory and the real world and increase mathematical literacy. This will be accomplished through the implementation of a combined undergraduate-graduate course in mathematical modeling at Mississippi State University and the development of mathematical modeling modules for high school biology classrooms in partnership with the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. The research will develop a theoretical framework that allows clear testing of existing hypotheses by generating predictions that are applicable to datasets that describe intra- and interpopulation variation in recombination rate. This novel approach is founded on a growing body of evidence that the genetic architecture of recombination is complex. This model will treat recombination rate as a continuously variable trait reflecting that complexity. This bridges a gap between theory and the growing body of real-world genomic data. The development and implementation of computational tools needed to simulate the evolution of recombination rate as a quantitative trait in response to direct and indirect selection will be a major step in understanding genome evolution This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.