a collaborative project on the evolution of sex chromosomes in plants
and animals. The project is a funded by a Sinergia grant from the
Swiss National Science Foundation and brings together the labs of Mark
Kirkpatrick (Austin, Texas), Nicolas Perrin, and John Pannell (Lausanne,
Switzerland). We are studying the evolutionary genomics in plant and
animal systems that have largely recombining sex chromosomes. In contrast
to model systems such as mammals and flies, these sex chromosomes are
highly dynamic parts of the genome. Our project will address questions
such as: how does recombination evolve, what drives the rapid turnover
in genetic sex determining systems, and what role does sex-antagonistic
selection play in genome evolution?
We are looking for researchers with strong backgrounds in evolutionary
genetics and/or bioinformatics. The project will involve tight
collaboration between theory and modeling (conducted principally in the
Kirkpatrick lab in Austin) and testing of the models using amphibian
(Perrin lab in Lausanne) and plant models (Pannell lab in Lausanne). The
collaboration will involve travel between labs, and the empirical work in
Lausanne will be conducted by researchers working side-by-side in groups
interested broadly in the evolution of sexual systems, sex allocation,
sexual dimorphism and sex chromosomes. The theoretical component will
involve both modeling and statistical analyses. The empirical components
will involve field work, crosses, the building of genetic linkage maps,
and the analysis of molecular and genomic variation produced by NextGen
sequencing of multiple genomes and transcriptomes.
The project is funded for three years. We hope to start empirical work by
January, 2014. Informal enquiries about empirical parts of the project can
be directed to Nicolas Perrin (nicolas.perrin@unil.ch) and John Pannell
(john.pannell@unil.ch), and about modeling and statistical aspects to
Mark Kirkpatrick (kirkp@mail.utexas.edu). Applications can be sent by
email to one of the principal investigators and should include a detailed
motivation letter, a curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of
two referees.
Full consideration will be given to applications received by the 31st
October.
Mark Kirkpatrick
