This research project investigates how new biological species form. Laboratory-based efforts to identify genetic and molecular mechanisms of speciation in nematode worms will be aided by the isolation of new worm strains and species by members of the general public. High school students will participate directly in scientific research by collecting nematodes from rotting fruits and flowers. They will learn how research is performed and will also gain a basic understanding of genes, DNA, and evolution that is becoming increasingly more important and societally relevant. By engaging students in the practice of science, this project fulfills one of the three central dimensions in the Next Generation Science Standards recently adopted by many states across the nation and will improve scientific literacy in the general population by helping to build an informed public that understands the scientific enterprise and can better contribute to future national policy decisions that require the interpretation and evaluation of scientific data.
The process of speciation involves the evolution of reproductive barriers between populations within a species so that a single species can split. Though multiple reproductive barriers typically isolate existing species, less is known about which barriers drove the speciation process originally. The goal of the project is to identify genes that cause reproductive isolation and determine their molecular mechanisms of action. The project is focused on identifying genes that mediate incompatibility within species and will operate at three levels to: 1) determine the detailed molecular and cellular mechanism of action of a previously identified intraspecific incompatibility in the nematode C. elegans mediated by a selfish toxin/antidote gene pair, 2) identify the genes involved in a newly discovered nuclear-cytoplasmic intraspecific incompatibility in the related nematode species C. nouraguensis, and 3) systematically search for more intraspecific genetic incompatibilities within the Caenorhabditis genus in a large-scale project to isolate new strains of Caenorhabditis species using a crowdsourcing approach implemented in high school classrooms, and by systematic crosses of strains performed by undergraduate researchers to test for hybrid breakdown.
