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Does mother-fetus coevolution lead to coadaptation?

PI(s): Yaniv Brandvain (UC Davis)
Start Date: 7-Nov-2013
End Date: 16-Feb-2014
Keywords: evolutionary theory, population genetics, mathematical modeling, evo-devo, coevoution

Despite the general belief that mother and fetus share the same evolutionary fate and thus their interactions should be synergistic, these interactions can be antagonistic. The opportunity for this antagonism arises from genetic differences between -- primarily the paternally inherited genome. This genetic difference can promote antagonistic co-evolution (conflict) of maternal and fetal genes. The maternal control theory for the evolution of genomic imprinting focuses on the role played by maternal genes in suppressing the expression of paternally-inherited genes in the fetus. In particular, it explores how synergistic interactions between maternal genes and the maternally-inherited genes in the fetus can result in silencing of the paternally-inherited genes in the fetus. The maternal control theory results in an adaptation from the maternal perspective where genes are expressed or silenced in such a way as to increase maternal fitness. The aim of this project is three fold. First, we will review how existing models of genomic imprinting might lead to maternal control and maternal adaptations. Second, we will synthesize existing empirical patterns in genomic imprinting with respect to whether they are suggestive of maternal control or not. Finally, we will build a framework for a new mathematical model that conceptually synthesizes maternal control theory with the main alternative theory for the evolution of genomic imprinting, the kinship theory.