Research Interests:
Our lab uses the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, to study the genetic basis of adaptation. We use genetic mapping, gene expression, and molecular biology techniques to uncover the genetic architecture of interesting traits, and use population genetic and comparative genomic methods to identify the protein coding and regulatory regions responsible for evolution of these traits. Ongoing projects in the lab include:

1) Interactions between fruitflies and their parasitic wasps. Like many insects, Drosophila larvae are attacked by parasitoid wasps, which grow within and eventually consume the flies unless a successful immune response is mounted. We have identified several novel candidate proteins important for Drosophila's immune response to parasites, and are pursuing the molecular biology and evolution of these proteins. We are also interested in the evolutionary forces that maintain diverse infection strategies in competing wasp species, and the molecular basis for those differences. For example, a specialist wasp species induces an immune response in D. melanogaster but can passively evade it, while a closely related generalist wasp species completely suppresses the fly immune response.

2) Insecticide detoxification. Though Drosophila are not agricultural pests, they often come into contact with pesticides in nature and quickly evolve resistance. We identified a recent transposon insertion in D. simulans that causes overexpression of a detoxification gene and subsequent resistance to DDT, and discovered a similar transposon insertion in D. melanogaster with identical effect. We are now conducting genome-wide screens for novel toxin resistance mutations in Drosophila using a wide array of insecticides and other environmental toxins, to begin to understand the extent to which toxin-mediated selection pressures have reshaped insect genomes in the recent past.