Abstract DBI 9750033 Matthew S. Olson This action funds an NSF/Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Molecular Evolution for 1997. These fellowships support studies involving the theoretical, comparative, computational, and/or experimental analyses of biological patterns and processes at the molecular level within the framework of organismic evolutionary change and adaptation. These studies also include the use of molecular data to address broader evolutionary questions. Each fellowship supports a research and training plan to be carried out in a sponsoring laboratory. The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled "The Evolution of Male-Sterility Genes and their Effects on Population Sex Ratios, Colonization Dynamics, and Genetic Diversity in the Herbaceous Plant, Silene vulgaris." Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) factors act as selfish genes because they are maternally inherited and result in all progeny being female. This research seeks to develop genetic markers to detect the effects of specific CMS factors on population sex ratios and mitochondrial diversity in Silene vulgaris.
