Dissecting the forces by which transposable elements drive genome evolution (co supervisor Richard Durbin)
Research Area
A large fraction of our genome (up to 50%) consists of selfish DNA modules known as transposable elements (TEs) – mobile units that aim to increase in copy number by jumping from one location to the other. Since their discovery, transposable elements have been involved in the organization, functioning, and evolution of genomes, but their uncontrolled activity can be detrimental to the host and must therefore be regulated. On one side, selfish elements aim to increase in copy number by mobilization, while on the other side host mechanisms act to suppress TE activity and its detrimental effects. Often balanced, these two opposed actions are thought to safeguard the functional and structural integrity of the genome while allowing genome evolution.
Together with Richard Durbin's group (Department of Genetics), we are building an interdisciplinary research team that combines large-scale experimental evolution studies, comparative genomics, population genetics, and innovative computational methods to uncover the breadth of transposon-derived genetic variation within populations, across species, and how this impacts the evolution of genomes in invertebrate and vertebrate systems.
Project Interests
Projects can include study of Drosophila (fruit flies) and bat species/ populations, model systems with a rich phylogeny and a wealth of active transposable elements. Using these clades, we could use long-read sequencing technology to assemble the genomes to perform detailed comparative analysis, sequence large number of individuals obtained from lab and wild samples to access inter-species variation, profile RNAs/small RNAs and chromatin modifications from animal gonads to determine the mount defence mechanisms and transposable element activity, or perform large-scale experimental evolution studies in flies to understand how TEs spread in populations. Our ultimate goal is understand the shorter- and the longer-term consequences of TE dynamics for genome evolution.