Research Foci

Comparative genomics of eye evolution

Eyes are the textbook example of how evolution can generate an integrative, complex morphological structure though small increments.  We study how eyes are generated and elaborated in bivalved molluscs using gene expression and genomic approaches, to answer: 1) What types of genetic changes accompany the origin of eyes – changes to gene number, DNA sequence, or regulation?   2) Do eyes acquire phototransduction genes using the same evolutionary process or does each eye have a unique evolutionary trajectory to photoreception? 3) Once established, how might different eye types relate to biological diversification or adaptive radiations?

Evolution of phototransduction proteins

The majority of animals are able to sense environmental light based on a class of G-protein coupled receptors, the opsins. Opsins covalently bind a light-absorbing vitamin-A derived chromophore, such as 11-cis-retinal, using a lysine residue in H7.  Together, the opsin protein and chromophore molecule form a photopigment sensitive to a specific portion of the light spectrum. Yet photobiology lacks an understanding of basic properties such as: How is light reception implemented and controlled? What determines the threshold of light sensitivity of an organism? And what molecular mechanisms determine which wavelengths of light are absorbed by the receptor, called “spectral tuning”? We are investigated the molecular mechanisms that tune photoreceptors by utilizing a strategy that combines experimental molecular biology techniques and ancestral state estimation methods.

Phylogenetics and trait evolution

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