DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Individual variation and male-female dimorphism: the role of testosterone and gene expression

论文研究：个体变异和男女二态性：睾酮和基因表达的作用

• 批准号: 1209564
• 负责人: Ellen Ketterson
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1209564&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Individual; variation; male

Males and females have nearly identical genomes, yet males and females can differ dramatically in appearance, physiology, and behavior. The proximate explanation for sex differences in phenotype is differences in gene expression, i.e., which genes are ?turned on or off? in males and females. But exactly how gender affects gene expression is an open question where much remains to be learned. Hormones such as testosterone are likely candidates for controlling differences in gene expression of genes in males and females. To date much of the research in this area has focused on experimental manipulation of hormones, rather than on the role of natural, individual variation in levels of circulating hormone. The research supported by this award asks two primary questions: (1) what genes and gene networks are affected by natural, individual variation in testosterone phenotype, and (2) how do males and females differ in affected genes and gene networks? The dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), a North-American songbird, will be the subject of study because of the recent development of genomic tools in this system and the wealth of historical data on its natural history, response to testosterone, and sex differences in behavior; all studied in a wild population. Successful completion of the aims of this project will enhance our understanding of the genes and gene networks that are related to natural variation in testosterone. The research proposed here will have broader impacts because it will provide unique opportunities for undergraduate research: the preliminary stages of this research have already led to undergraduate research opportunities for four individuals from underrepresented groups.

雄性和女性的基因组几乎相同，但男性和女性在外观，生理和行为上可能会有巨大差异。关于表型性别差异的近似解释是基因表达的差异，即哪些基因是？打开还是关闭？在男性和女性中。但是，确切的性别如何影响基因表达是一个悬而未决的问题。诸如睾丸激素等激素可能是控制男性和女性基因基因表达差异的候选者。迄今为止，该领域的许多研究都集中在激素的实验性操纵上，而不是自然，个体变化在循环激素水平上的作用。该奖项支持的研究提出了两个主要问题：（1）哪些基因和基因网络受睾丸激素表型的自然，个体变化的影响，以及（2）男性和女性在受影响的基因和基因网络中有何不同？北美鸣禽的深眼朱科（Junco Hyemalis）将成为研究的主题，因为该系统中基因组工具的最新发展以及有关其自然史，对睾丸激素的反应和行为性别差异的历史数据的丰富；所有人都在野生人群中学习。成功完成该项目的目标将增强我们对与睾丸激素自然变异有关的基因和基因网络的理解。这里提出的研究将产生更广泛的影响，因为它将为本科研究提供独特的机会：这项研究的初步阶段已经为来自代表性不足的小组的四个人提供了本科研究机会。