xi, 103 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Although outcrossing is the most widespread mating system among animals and plants, the reason for this prevalence is not fully understood. Evolutionary theory has classified the potential selective pressures driving the evolution and maintenance of outcrossing into two broad categories: deleterious mutations and changing ecological conditions. Despite the inherent advantages of self-fertilization, exposure to either or both of these selective pressures is predicted to favor outcrossing over self-fertilization. I tested these predictions using experimental evolution in populations of Caenorhabditis elegans with genetically modified rates of outcrossing and selfing. I found that outcrossing reduces the fixation of deleterious mutations under mutation influx and that outcrossing expedites adaptation to a bacterial pathogen. Further, I identified facultative outcrossing, a novel life history characteristic, in specific C. elegans strains that predominantly reproduce by selfing but engage in outcrossing when stressed. The shift from a primarily selfing mating system to a predominantly outcrossing system is similar to the environmentally induced facultative sex observed in asexual species, which is thought to enable more rapid adaptation. Facultative outcrossing, although not previously documented, may play a major role in the life histories of many highly selfing species. Finally, most mutations are deleterious and therefore elevated mutation rates are generally thought to produce progressively larger reductions in fitness. Using the chemical mutagen ethylmethanesulfonate, I found the surprising result that populations exposed to a mutation rate at least fifty times greater than natural rates exhibited significantly greater fitness than populations exposed to substantially lower mutation rates. This unexpected fitness optimum may be the result of a volatile balance between the influx of deleterious mutations and compensatory mutations. This work confirms the predictions of several long-standing evolutionary theories by identifying both deleterious mutations and changing ecological conditions as selective pressures capable of driving the evolution and maintenance of outcrossing. These selective pressures, which are ubiquitous in nature, may explain the prevalence of outcrossing relative to selling. This dissertation includes previously published and co-authored materials. / Committee in charge: Barbara Roy, Chairperson, Biology; Patrick Phillips, Advisor, Biology; Karen Guillemin, Member, Biology; William Bradshaw, Member, Biology; Douglas Kennett, Outside Member, Anthropology

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Cette thèse a pour l’objet l’étude des pressions de sélection qui s’appliquent sur les îlots CpG, courtes séquences génomiques qui échappent à la méthylation chez les mammifères. Nous avons tout d’abord étudié les caractéristiques génomiques des îlots CpG, notamment leurs liens avec l’initiation de transcription des gènes et les origines de réplication de l’ADN, en utilisant des jeux de données récemment publiés. Nous avons ensuite déterminé si les caractéristiques de séquence des îlots CpG (richesse en dinucléotides CpG et richesse en GC) étaient sous pression de sélection et pouvaient jouer un rôle dans les fonctions des îlots CpG. Nous avons montré que la richesse relative en dinucléotides CpG des îlots CpG résulte uniquement de la faible méthylation de ces séquences. De plus, la richesse en bases GC des îlots CpG n’est pas soumise à pression de sélection mais semble résulter d’un mécanisme neutre, la conversion génique biaisée vers GC. Nous discutons également du devenir des îlots CpG chez les primates, qui et avons montré que si le taux de GC de ces séquences est en train de diminuer, la richesse relative en CpG quant à elle reste stable / This thesis analyses selective pressures applying on CpG islands, short sequences which escape methylation in mammalian genomes. We first studied genomic characteristics of CpG islands. We namely studied their relationships with gene transcription start, and with DNA replication origins, using recently published data. We then determined wether base peculiar composition of CpG islands (high number of CpG dinucleotides, high GC content) may be under (negative or positive) selective pressures, and thus play a role in their function, or not. We showed that the relative CpG-richness of CpG islands is the mere consequence of the low methylation of these genomic regions. Moreover, we showed that the high GC content of CpG islands is not under selective pressures, and seem to result from a neutral mechanism, biased gene conversion toward GC. We also discussed the future of CpG islands and primates. We showed that the GC content of CpG islands is decreasing, while the relative CpG content remains constant