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Whereas the non-sex chromosomes (autosomes) can partner up and swap DNA over their entire lengths, the sex chromosomes, X and Y, in mammals only swap DNA on the tips. We study this process and its consequences.
Genetic diversity across the pseudoautosomal region in humans does not support a strict boundary between the region that recombines and the region that does not recombine. Read more here.
There is a set of genes on the sex chromosomes of eutherian mammals (e.g., human, mouse, dog - basically all mammals except marsupials and monotremes) that are on the non-sex chromosomes (autosomes) in marsupials. We can compare the genomic and expression evolution of the X- and Y-linked gametologs with their homologs on the autosomes to learn how X- and Y-linkage affect molecular evolution. With Kateryna Makova.
Read more here: Evolution and survival on eutherian sex chromosomes
In species with heteromorphic sex chromosomes, inversions, or other events, often accumulate to suppress recombination so that sexually antagonistic alleles won't adversely affect the opposite sex. We aim to understand how these recombination suppression events occur, and what their genomic signatures are. With Ravi Shanker Pandey and Rajeev Azad. Read more here.
The human X and Y chromosomes evolved from a pair of homologous autosomes, but today the X has more than ten times the gene content of the Y. Which genes were lost, and how does the loss of functional genes on the Y affect the evolution of the human X? Are genes with some functions or expression patterns more likely to be retained on the Y? With Kateryna Makova.
Read more here: Gene Survival and Death on the Human Y Chromosome
If most mutations result from errors during replication (during germline cell divisions), then differences in the rounds of germline cell divisions between males and females are expected to result in more mutations introduced from one parent or the other. In mammals, the male germline undergoes many more rounds of division than the female germline, and this is observed in a resulting "male mutation bias", where more mutations are introduced from the male versus the female germline. We study how this process occurs, and what its genomic impacts are.
For a review of male mutation bias, with Kateryna Makova.
Read more here: Genome analyses substantiate male mutation bias in many species
We studied associations between variations in life history traits and molecular evolution, especially male mutation bias. We found that generation time is the strongest predictor of variation in male mutation bias across species. With Chris Venditti, Mark Pagel, and Kateryna Makova.
Read more here: Do variations in substitution rates and male mutation bias correlate with life-history traits? A study of 32 mammalian genomes
By studying genome-wide patterns of variation we can distinguish between the relative influences of natural selection and demographic history.
By studying genome-wide patterns of variation we found that diversity on the human Y chromosome is significantly reduced relative to neutral expectations. We are investigating the possible causes of this reduction. With Kirk Lohmueller and Rasmus Nielsen.
Read more here: Natural selection reduced diversity on human Y chromosomes.
Some of the other projects our lab is involved in.
We reviewed of the role of fetal microchimerism in maternal health, and an evolutionary framework within to test additional hypotheses, with Amy Boddy and Athena Aktipis. Read more here: Fetal microchimerism and maternal health: A review and evolutionary analysis of cooperation and conflict beyond the womb.
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isIFKQPaiP0
We are working on methods to correct for technical errors when assessing allele-specific expression in RNAseq data. With Line Skotte and Rasmus Nielsen.
