Université de Montréal
Ph.D. candidate
Supervisor: Bernard Angers
Start: 2018-09-01
End: 2023-08-31
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Project

Molecular and cellular aspects of the atypical reproduction of a vertebrate hybrid
My research project focuses on a rather particular fish complex, including Chrosomus eos, C. neogaeus and their hybrids of variable ploidies. In these particular organisms, we find lines of hybrids essentially female reproducing by gynogenesis: the unreduced eggs of this organism develop only in the presence of a spermatozoon of a close species, but without including the paternal genome. However, the sperm genome may be included occasionally, leading to the production of a female triploid individual. Several questions remain to be asked in terms of the reproduction of these hybrids, where much of the current knowledge is hypothetical and unclear. The first phase of this PhD aimed to determine the oogenesis of triploid females. We were able to determine the presence of two mutually exclusive reproductions, including a new, unidentified reproductive pathway. The second phase will aim at qualifying the epigenetic differences between the triploid females of the two reproductive types, as well as determining the role of epigenetics in the distinction of reproductive pathways. The third and fourth phases of this project will seek to qualify the oogenesis of hybrids through genetic, cytological and molecular analyzes.

Keywords

Oogenèse, Hybrides, Chrosomus eos-neogaeus, Cytologie, Génétique, reproduction

Publications

1- Inferring responses to climate warming from latitudinal pattern of clonal hybridization
Monette, Katherine, Christelle Leung, Joelle Lafond, Julian Wittische, Bernard Angers
2019 Ecology and Evolution

2- Unexpected Oogenic Pathways for the Triploid Fish Chrosomus eos-neogaeus
Lafond, Joëlle, Philippe Hénault, Christelle Leung, Bernard Angers
2019 Journal of Heredity