Genetic and Environmental Determinants of Meiotic Recombination Rate Variation in Drosophila
Event details
| Date | 25.11.2013 |
| Hour | 09:15 |
| Speaker |
Prof. Nadia D. Singh, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (USA) Bio: Nadia Singh got her start in evolutionary biology as an undergraduate, working in the lab of Steve Palumbi. She did her PhD at Stanford University with Dmitri Petrov and did a postdoc at Cornell University with Andrew Clark and Chip Aquadro. She started her own lab at NCSU in Raleigh in the Fall of 2010. Dr. Singh uses Drosophila as a model system to dissect the molecular evolutionary process, such as to quantify the individual and joint contributions of mutation, recombination, random genetic drift, and natural selection to patterns of evolution at the molecular scale. |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
The extensive variation in meiotic recombination rate observed both within and between species remains a great paradox in evolutionary biology. Recombination is required for proper chromosome segregation during meiosis and recombination defects can yield aneuploid gametes. Given the vital function of meiotic recombination and the devastating consequences of aberrant recombination, one might expect that recombination rates would be tightly regulated. This contrasts with the dramatic variation in recombination rate observed in natural populations. Though much of the phenotypic variation in recombination rate is heritable, the genes underlying meiotic recombination rate variation remain unknown. The molecular mechanisms underlying environmentally-induced recombination rate variation are unknown as well. To address these outstanding questions, we have taken a two-pronged approach. First, we leverage natural variation in recombination rate to gain insight into the genetic architecture of this trait using an association mapping approach. Second, we couple environmental perturbation with a candidate gene approach to identify environmental stimuli that induce meiotic recombination rate and the genes mediating this recombinational response. Our results provide the first insight into the genes and molecular mechanisms contributing to natural variation in recombination rate in Drosophila melanogaster and may have implications for the evolution of sex and recombination.
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Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Jeffrey Jensen