About the Project
Almost all organisms have substantial levels of genetic variation, but why there is so much genetic diversity? and why does the quantity differ so little between species? These remain fundamental puzzles in the field of population genetics. It has long been appreciated that balancing selection, either in the form of heterozygous advantage or frequency dependent selection, could potentially maintain large amounts of variation, but both types of selection have received little attention because they are difficult to test for.
The aim of the project is to use several novel tests of balancing selection in a broad variety of organisms to test for the signature of balancing selection. Each of these tests will leverage the prediction that neutral and selected genetic variation behave differently, with selected variation being maintained in the population at higher frequency and for longer periods of time. The tests will be applied to those species for which we have population genomic datasets – i.e. the whole genome has been sequenced in multiple individuals. There are now dozens of species for which these data are available, from humans with thousands of genomes to some organisms with just a handful of sequences.
The project will build on the supervisors previous work estimatign the rate of adaptive evolution between species (James et al. 2016, Castellano et al. 2016, Gossmann et al. 2012, Gossman et al. 2011, Eyre-Walker 2006). Besides shedding light on a fundamental problem in population genetics, the project will give the student experience in computer programming, bioinformatics, population genetic theory and statistics.
To be considered for this studentship you will need to submit a formal application using our online application system at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/pg/applying/, please choose PhD Biology and specify the project and supervisor when asked in the form.
The application should include a CV, statement of interest and the names of two academic referees. UG /PG transcripts may be required; candidates for whom English is not their first language will need to provide confirmation of their IELTS result.
Funding Notes
This School funded position, which covers fees and a stipend at standard RCUK rates, is open to Home / EU applicants who should hold or expect to obtain a first, or upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline. Candidates for whom English is not their first language will require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall, with not less than 6.0 in any section.
References
James, J., Piganeau, G. and Eyre-Walker, A. (2016) The rate of adaptive evolution in animal mitochondria. Mol. Ecol. 25, 67-78.
Castellano, D, Coronado-Zamora, M., Campos, J.L., Barbadilla, A. and Eyre-Walker, A. (2016) Adaptive evolution is substantially impeded by Hill-Robertson interference in Drosophila. Mol. Biol. Evol. 33, 422-455.
Gossman, T., Keightley, P.D. and Eyre-Walker, A. (2012) The effect of variation in the effective population size on the rate of adaptive molecular evolution in eukaryotes. Gen. Biol. Evol. 4, 658-667.
Gossmann, T., Song, B-H., Windsor, A.J., Mitchell-Olds, T., Dixon, C.J., Kapralov, M.V., Filatov, D.A. & Eyre-Walker, A. (2010) Genome wide analyses reveal little evidence for adaptive evolution in many plant species. Mol. Biol. Evol. 27, 1822-1832.
Eyre-Walker, A. (2006) The rate of adaptive evolution at the molecular level. TREE 21, 569-575
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