Dear colleagues,

Biology Thursday seminar continues 2nd Oct, 12:15 on site, room At117, with Dr. Melanie Brien, University of Helsinki, on

"Colour and clock genes: Genomic drivers of local adaptation in the wood tiger moth"

Colour polymorphisms in natural populations are valuable for studying the evolutionary and genomic mechanisms that maintain genetic diversity. The wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, displays bright hindwing colours associated with unpalatability, and males have discrete colour morphs which vary in frequency across space and time. Some populations are polymorphic, in which we find two colour morphs co-occurring, while other populations remain monomorphic. I will present results from two genomic studies of this system. Firstly, we determined the genetic basis of colour and melanisation in the wings. Secondly, we looked at genetic and phenotypic differences between 7 populations across Europe, covering a latitudinal gradient from Georgia to Northern Finland. We used long-read haplotagging sequencing to study genetic diversity, and detected differences in genes associated with circadian clock rhythms. Together our findings start to uncover how variation has evolved in natural populations and how these moths have adapted to such a wide variety of environments.

See also: https://mnbrien.github.io/ https://scholar.google.fi/citations?hl=en&user=nBN-hYQAAAAJ&view_op=...

See you on Thursday!

Cheers, Heikki