Pitchers WR, Constantinou SJ, Losilla M, Gallant JR. The Genome and Adult Somatic Transcriptome of the Mormyrid Electric Fish Paramormyrops kingsleyae. Gallant JR, Losilla M, Tomlinson C, Warren WC. Electrostatic Tuning of a Potassium Channel in Electric Fish. Swapna I, Ghezzi A, York JM, Markham MR, Halling DB, Lu Y, Gallant JR, Zakon HH. Journal of Visualized Experiments : Jove. Silencing the Spark: CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing in Weakly Electric Fish. PMID 31918666 DOI: 10.1186/s1286-3Ĭonstantinou SJ, Nguyen L, Kirschbaum F, Salazar VL, Gallant JR.
The transcriptional correlates of divergent electric organ discharges in Paramormyrops electric fish. Studying convergent evolution to relate genotype to behavioral phenotype. Evolution International Journal of Organic Evolution.
Genetic drift does not sufficiently explain patterns of electric signal variation among populations of the mormyrid electric fish Paramormyrops kingsleyae. Genomic Basis for the Convergent Evolution of Electric Organs. Silencing the Spark: Crispr/Cas9 Genome Editing in Weakly Electric Fish. J.**, Nguyen, L., Kirschbaum, F., Salazar, V. Switzerland, AG: Springer Nature.Ĭonstantinou, S. Fay (Eds.), Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches. The Evolution and Development of Electric Organs In B. The Transcriptional Correlates of Divergent Electric Organ Discharges in Paramormyrops Electric Fish. Genetic Drift Does Not Sufficiently Explain Patterns of Electric Signal Variation among Populations of the Mormyrid Electric Fish Paramormyrops Kingsleyae. Our second project focuses on sperm morphology: our fish are the only vertebrates on the planet that naturally lack flagella on their sperm! We have identified a candidate causal mutation for this phenotype, and are exploring the consequences of this adaptation using multiple approaches. Our first project is to determine the genetic basis of sex, which appears to be under the control of a master sex determining gene that has convergently evolved in numerous teleost lineages. Most recently, we've embarked on several projects to investigate the idiosyncratic reproductive systems of African weakly electric fish. Our work takes place in the field, the laboratory and in silico. I leverage these convergent evolutionary outcomes to tackle three broad questions on the cutting edge of evolutionary biology: (1) How do changes in the genome lead to the evolution of novel phenotypes? (2) What are the evolutionary forces that influence this process? and (3) What are the consequences of this interaction for the evolution of biodiversity? Our work isįundamentally integrative and spans biological levels of analysis and disciplines, including ecology and evolution, genomics and bioinformatics, physiology, developmental biology, and animal behavior.
The electric fish system is therefore highly amenable to understanding the link between genotype and phenotype because it provides replicated natural experiments in which evolution has produced similar phenotypic outcomes both within and between lineages. Two parallel electric fish lineages have undergone rapid speciation as a consequence of electric organ evolution and exhibit convergent evolution at every biological level: from molecules to ecology. In each case, electric organs evolved to produce electric fields for the purposes of communication and navigation, and occasionally for predation and defense. For this reason, my research program focuses on electric fish, vertebrate species that have independently evolved electric organs six times. While the evolution of novel traits has led to a rich tapestry of species, the single origin of these traits presents a statistical dilemma for evolutionary biologists: they are single replicate ‘experiments’ that lack power to resolve how and why novel traits evolve. Many charismatic, uniquely vertebrate traits such as fins, limbs, feathers, teeth evolved once long ago, and enabled profound diversification. Vertebrates have evolved a multitude of adaptive traits to exploit resources in the air, on the land, and in the water. Trinity College, Hartford, CT (Biology and Human Rights) Postdoctoral Research, Boston University Research Interest
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