Graduation Year

2019

Date of Submission

12-2019

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Biology

Reader 1

Patrick Ferree

Reader 2

Lars Schmitz

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

Intragenomic conflict is commonly observed in eukaryotes. Arthropods, including Nasonia vitripennis, carry selfish genetic elements that cause this phenomenon. Two such selfish agents are the paternally inherited supernumerary B chromosome, Paternal Sex Ratio (PSR), and the maternally inherited bacterium, Wolbachia. In this study, I examined the effects of Wolbachia on PSR at the chromatin level, since both agents disturb the chromatin state of the paternal genome, ultimately causing paternal genome elimination. I found that Wolbachia prevented the genetic drive of PSR and altered histone modifications on the PSR chromosome. This study provides insight into interactions between selfish genetic elements and how one selfish genetic element can impose inhibitory effects on another.

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