Speciation Genetics
Understanding the origins of new species is a major topic in evolutionary biology. In the study of speciation, a conundrum is understanding how species can freely interbreed while being maintained as distinct species. My research attempts to understand genetic features that contribute to speciation by preventing gene flow between species. Specifically, I have examined the role of chromosomal inversions to restrict recombination between species, contributing to higher rates of nucleotide divergence. Chromosomal inversions are chucks of DNA that have been inverted (i.e. pulled out of the genome, flipped and then reinserted), acting to protect those regions from genetic exchange by reducing recombination over long stretches. In future research projects, I am interested in identifying other genetic features underlying regions with restricted gene flow between species and understanding their overall importance in speciation.
See publications on this topic:
L.S. Stevison, K.B. Hoehn and M.A.F. 2011. Effects of inversions on within- and between-species recombination and divergence. Genome Biology and Evolution. 3: 830-841.
Kulathinal R.J., L.S. Stevison, M.A.F. Noor. 2009. The Genomics of Speciation in Drosophila: Diversity, Divergence, and Introgression Estimated Using Low-Coverage Genome Sequencing. PLoS Genetics. 5(7): e1000550.