This project will make use of controlled laboratory experiments utilizing the model system of house mice (Mus musculus) to understand the role of gene regulation in speciation. A primary goal of speciation research is to uncover the genetic differences between species that underlie reproductive isolation. While much of the work in this field has focused on identifying specific genes that contribute to reproductive isolation between species, gene regulation may play a large role in this process. Despite this, there are been few systematic attempts to link regulatory evolution to reproductive isolation. Characterizing regulatory evolution between house mouse subspecies will provide novel insight into how regulatory networks evolve and diverge which has broad implications for our understanding of the evolution of complex phenotypes as well as the speciation process. In addition, the investigators will engage in research with undergraduates from underrepresented groups and provide public and K12 outreach on this project.
Taking advantage of a cross between house mouse subspecies, where hybrid dysfunction is largely unidirectional, the proposed work will use a variety of genomic methods (i.e., ChiP-sequencing, mRNA-sequencing, and ribosome profiling) to characterize changes in gene regulation on the transcriptional and translational level that are associated with hybrid sterility. This dissertation work will address the following questions: 1) What is the role of different levels of gene regulation to species divergence? and 2) What is the role of regulatory divergence in reproductive isolation between species? The work outlined here will be the first to: 1) characterize divergence in translational efficiency between mammalian species, and 2) examine the relationship between hybrid sterility and gene regulation on the transcriptional and translational level.
