Category Archives: phylogenetics

Small mammalian genomics of adaptation

Posted on 10 Sep, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

While large mammals have had their day on our blog, two recent studies on small mammals reveal the genetics of size evolution in island mice, and differential introgression of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in chipmunks – steps towards understanding the … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, domestication, evolution, genomics, natural history, pedigree, phylogenetics, population genetics, selection | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

And who made your beer?

Posted on 27 Aug, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

In the spirit of it being almost Friday, and while we’re on the topic of your favorite beverages – perhaps wine puts you to sleep, couldn’t care less where it came from, but prefer the bitterness of lager beers at your … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, evolution, genomics, natural history, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, population genetics, selection, speciation, yeast | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Where's your wine from?

Posted on 20 Aug, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

Human-mediated selection of yeast cultures has played a huge role in the development of numerous unique strains of Sacchromyces cerevisiae, often attributed to production of a wide variety of wines the world over. Previous studies have indicated a single domesticated … Continue reading →

Posted in domestication, evolution, genomics, horizontal gene transfer, microbiology, Molecular Ecology, the journal, next generation sequencing, phylogenetics, phylogeography, population genetics, STRUCTURE, yeast | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Fossils and phylogenetics meet in the evolutionary middle

Posted on 19 Aug, 2015 by Rob Denton

…if evolutionary biologists are intent on documenting the history of life, we need methods that can at least approximate patterns of evolution in deep time for clades without fossil information. A scientists who wants to understand the evolutionary history of … Continue reading →

Posted in phylogenetics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Notes from Edmonton and #Botany2015

Posted on 11 Aug, 2015 by Jeremy Yoder

As noted previously, I broke with my usual habit and skipped the Evolution meetings this year. Instead, I attended Botany 2015, a joint meeting of multiple U.S. and Canadian plant-focused scholarly societies held in Edmonton, Alberta — I’d never been … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, conferences, genomics, natural history, phylogenetics, plants, population genetics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Grasping gorgonians

Posted on 1 May, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

A recent issue of Heredity focused on the brave new world of environmental genomics. After highlighting the special issue, I started chatting to one of the contributors, Eric Pante and became interested in his work on gorgonians. Eric and his co-authors explored the … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, Coevolution, evolution, genomics, mutation, phylogenetics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Just in time for spring break- the phylogenetic and medicinal history of Aloe vera

Posted on 16 Mar, 2015 by Melissa DeBiasse

It’s spring break season across the United States, which means many undergraduates are shedding their winter layers and flocking to warm, tropical destinations. After a week of fun in the sun, I’m sure many of them will rely on  Aloe vera to soothe their sunburns. … Continue reading →

Posted in medicine, phylogenetics, plants, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Phylogenetic dispersion aversion

Posted on 11 Mar, 2015 by Rob Denton

How biological communities form and are maintained is a complex and fascinating area of molecular ecology. Gerhold et al. offer up an interesting take on community phylogenetics in a recent Functional Ecology paper that argues against the use of phylogenetic dispersion as … Continue reading →

Posted in community ecology, phylogenetics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Interspecific gene flow enhances vectorial capacity

Posted on 20 Feb, 2015 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

There are charismatic cases of gene flow between species, such as Neanderthals (see also Arun’s posts here and here), but the role of introgression in evolution remains poorly documented. Recently diverged species have incomplete reproductive isolation and can hybridize. Rapid … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptation, bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, phylogenetics, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Phonemes and Genomes

Posted on 5 Feb, 2015 by Arun Sethuraman

Human phonemes and genomes are thought to have evolved hand-in-glove out of Africa. Several recent studies have attempted to capture a picture of this global variation in languages and peoples, often supporting (and rejecting) a serial founder model (eg. see … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, evolution, genomics, phylogenetics, population genetics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment