Genetic constraints on adaptive evolution

Research in my group aims at understanding how the genetic encoding of traits affects whether and how they will respond to selection. We study this in two contexts. First, we use the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate how the evolution of sexual dimorphism is constrained by genetic correlations between male and female traits, i.e., their shared genetic basis. We have identified so-called ‘sexually antagonistic’ genes that harbour allelic variation with opposing fitness effects on males and females. We are now in the process of experimentally verifying these effects and studying the population- and phylogenetics of these genes across populations of D. melanogaster and closely related species. Our results will be important for our understanding of how genetics constrain the adaptive optimisation of sex-specific phenotypes and maintain maladaptation. Beyond basic research, these insights matter in the context of biomedicine, where antagonistic selection can maintain risk alleles for sex-specific diseases.

A second, complementary strand of research investigates the effect of genetic correlations in the context of adaptation to environmental challenges. Here, we use the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe to understand how overlap between the genetic pathways that govern the responses to different stresses shape evolution in the face sudden, abrupt changes in the external environment. The insights we gain here will help us understand ‘evolutionary rescue’ of wild population in the face of climate change, but are also relevant to managing multi-drug resistance in a medical or agricultural context.

In practical terms, the research in my lab employs the phenotypic and genetic approaches available for our model organisms and combines experimental work with the use of modern sequencing technologies, bioinformatics and mathematical modelling. More information about my group, our research and a list of publications is available on the lab website http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbtmre/Labsite/Home.html.

I am seeking a PhD student to join my group at UCL to study and contribute to our ongoing research on genetic constraints on adaptive evolution. We can offer exciting research in a diverse and stimulating at one of the UK’s best universities. Funding is available through two doctoral training programmes, the London NERC DTP (http://london-nerc-dtp.org/) and the BBSRC LIDo DTP (http://lido-dtp.ac.uk/), both with deadlines in January 2018. Please email me ([Email Address Removed]) for more details about the project and the application process.