Letalni aleli u evoluciji

undergraduate thesis

• Title (english): Lethal alleles in evolution
• Author: Iva Podgorski
• Mentor: Vlatka Zoldoš (mentor)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Biology); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2010, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology

Abstract

Letalni aleli uzrokuju smrt organizma koji ih nosi, no ponekad smrt nije trenutačna - mogu proći i godine prije nego smrt nastupi, ovisno o utjecaju letalnog gena na organizam odnosno njegovoj funkciji. Ako mutacija završava trenutnom smrću, tada je zahvaćeni gen esencijalan za rast, razvoj i preživljavanje organizma. Prvi koji je primijetio letalne alele 1905. godine bio je Lucien Cuénot, a nakon njega su mnogi istraživači započeli rad u tom području. Letalni aleli ne izazivaju smrt uvijek u istim uvjetima, pa stoga postoji nekoliko vrsta letalnih alela (dominantni, recesivni, subletalni, uvjetni i sintetički letalni aleli). Najopsežnija istraživanja broja i učinka letalnih alela su napravljena u prirodnim populacijama vrsta Drosophila melanogaster M. i Mus musculus L., te u novije vrijeme u vrsta riba Lucania goodei G. i Danio rerio H. Usporedbama rezultata dobivenih na tim vrstama dobivene su bitne činjenice o evoluciji letalnih alela, no još je uvijek vrlo teško sa sigurnošću zaključiti što sve utječe na njihovu distribuciju u različitim populacijama. Otkriven je i učinak nekih letalnih alela na spolne kromosome koji uzrokuju brojne bolesti i mutacije. Saznanja o učestalosti letalnih alela u populaciji su važna za razumijevanje populacijske genetike i evolucije. Letalne mutacije mogu objasniti mnoge fenomene u evolucijskoj biologiji, poput usrođenosti i njezinog utjecaja na populacije, ili pak uzroka nekih nasljednih bolesti koje imaju letalan učinak, a povezane su s letalnim alelima. Stoga je vrlo važno nastaviti s istraživanjem letalnih alela kako bi se eventualno otkrio njihov utjecaj na razvoj i život jedinki.

Abstract (english)

Lethal alleles cause the death of an organism that carry them, but sometimes, death is not immediate - it may take years before death occures, depending on the function of a lethal gene and its impact on an organism. If the mutation results in lethality then the affected gene is essential for growth, development, and survival of an organism. Lucien Cuénot was the first researcher who noticed the effects of lethal genes on mice in 1905, thereafter many researchers started to explore lethal genes. There are several types of lethal alleles due to the fact that they cause death under the different conditions (dominant, recessive, sublethal, conditionally lethal and synthetic lethal alleles). The most aboundant research of the number and the effect of lethal alleles was done on Drosophila melanogaster M. and Mus musculus L., as well as on fish species Lucania goodei G. and Danio rerio H. Comparisons of the data obtained on the different species have provided important conceptions about evolution of lethal alleles, neverthelles the mechanisms of their distribution in different wild populations are still vaguely understood. Effect of some lethal alleles on sex chromosomes, which causes numerous diseases and mutations, was also discovered. Informations about the frequency of lethal alleles in populations are important for understanding population genetics and evolution. Lethal mutations could explain a number of phenomens in evolutionary biology, such as inbreeding and it`s effect on populations. Also, determination of frequency of lethal alleles would enable certain lethal alleles to be correlated with some common hereditary diseases which have a lethal effect. It is therefore very important to continue researching in the area of lethal alleles, in order to get a better insight in their impact on development and life of organisms.

• Keywords: letalni aleli
• Keywords (english): lethal alleles
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:695916
• Study programme: Title: Molecular Biology; Study programme type: university; Study level: undergraduate; Academic / professional title: sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) molekularne biologije (sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) molekularne biologije)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2018-03-29 08:05:31