Species and populations with parallel evolution of specific traits can help illuminate how predictable adaptations and divergence are at the molecular and developmental level. Following the last glacial period, dwarfism and specialized bottom feeding morphology evolved rapidly in several landlocked Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus populations in Iceland.
Continue reading 'Revised: The developmental transcriptome of contrasting Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) morphs'»

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Post doc available: The role of transcriptional and regulatory changes during compensatory evolution

Which principles influence the rewiring and tuning of gene regulatory networks? How do those network react to genetic perturbations? We are seeking a post-doc to tackle those and related questions in project utilizing populations of Drosophila that have undergone compensatory adaptation using experimental evolution and artificial selection. The project involves the analysis of tissue specific RNA-seq and numerical analyses. The ideal candidate is strong in evolutionary genetics, statistical and bioinformatic analyses and with capable hands for molecular biology. Excellent communication skills, main focus on writing, are required, as is a solid publication record. The candidate will be encouraged (and given time) to develop their own research program.

The project involves a collaboration between University of Iceland and McMaster University, with approx. 3/4 of the work conducted in Iceland and 1/4 in Canada. Those interested are asked to send a cover letter detailing research interests and experience, a current CV, and contact details for three professional references by April 1st. Anticipated start date is Fall 2016, but this is flexible. The position is funded by the Icelandic Research fund (for 2 years), salary commensurate with qualifications.

The University of Iceland is the leading research institute in the country, and groups at the Institute of biology (luvs.hi.is/institute-biology) and Biomedical Center (lifvisindi.hi.is) study genomics, evolutionary, developmental, cellular and molecular biology. The shared facilities include High throughput sequencers, various specialized molecular biology equipment and computer clusters. The University is an equal opportunity workplace with strong combination of international and domestic scientists.

Learn more about the work in the Palsson (uni.hi.is/apalsson) and Dworkin (http://www.biology.mcmaster.ca/dworkin/) labs.

Please send applications and/or inquiries to apalsson@hi.is.

This project is built on work on indel polymorphism in the even skipped stripes 3+7 enhancer and on the conditional effects of genetic backgrounds on wing mutations.

Palsson A, Wesolowska N, Reynisdóttir S, Ludwig MZ, Kreitman M (2014) Naturally Occurring Deletions of Hunchback Binding Sites in the Even-Skipped Stripe 3+7 Enhancer. PLoS ONE 9(5): e91924. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091924

Chari S, Dworkin I (2013) The Conditional Nature of Genetic Interactions: The Consequences of Wild-Type Backgrounds on Mutational Interactions in a Genome-Wide Modifier Screen. PLoS Genet 9(8): e1003661. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003661

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This Friday I enjoyed the privilege of being a Phd. examiner for the first time. The (un)fortunate individual was Ari Jon Arason, who has been working on the functional role of human bronchial derived basal cells in regeneration and fibrosis within the Faculty of medicine.

Emma Rawlins from the Gurdon Institute was the other examiner, and she did a marvelous job. She works in the field of stem cell biology and has a fabulously interesting paper on biophysical model of basal stem cell populations (Watson JK, Rulands S, Wilkinson AC, Wuidart A, Ousset M, Van Keymeulen A, Gottgens B, Blanpain C, Simons BD and Rawlins EL (2015) Clonal Dynamics Reveal Two Distinct Populations of Basal Cells in Slow Turnover Airway Epithelium. Cell Reports 12, 1-12)

After her questions all I could ask about was evolution of lungs, and stem cells and variation in lung structures between individuals, and transcription factor isoforms of course. All in all this was an enjoyable experience. The work was well executed and interesting, his thesis was a good read and corduroy gowns a lot less awful than I imagined. For some reason the University of Iceland has adopted very formal guidelines for PhD. defenses, involving gowns, parading and verbose introductions and declarations. At least the Rector does not have to sip champagne with every new Phd, as the earlier guidelines stipulated.

Sigridur Helga Thorbjarnardottir passed away late 2015. She was my main advisor during my master studies at the University of Iceland. The other advisor was Gudmundur Eggertsson. Sigridur was also the head of the Icelandic biological society in the eighties. The eulogy in icelandic appeared in the local paper and on the website of the society.

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In the beginning of November the Icelandic biological society and associates organized a conference on biological research in Iceland. This event has run biannually since 2009, and before that it was organized by the society and the Institute of Biology at the University of Iceland (every 5 years).

Continue reading 'IceBio 2015'»

Differential expression of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway associates with craniofacial polymorphism in sympatric Arctic charr. Ahi EP, Steinhäuser SS, Pálsson A, Franzdóttir SR, Snorrason SS, Maier VH, Jónsson ZO. Evodevo. 2015 Sep 16;6:27. doi: 10.1186/s13227-015-0022-6.

BACKGROUND:

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