Exploring variation in the mutation spectrum across the plant kingdom
Moisés Expósito-Alonso, Professor
Integrative Biology
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Description: Spontaneous mutations fuel the rate of evolutionary change by increasing the amount of genetic variation across the green tree of life. Genetic variation is utilized within natural populations to improve fitness, therefore, knowledge of the historical bias of mutation rates and spectra across a genome and across populations will inform how species will respond to the future. Recent studies have shown there is variation in the mutation spectrum, defined as the frequency of different signatures of mutations, across the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, the evolution of the mutation spectra has not yet been explored across the plant kingdom, who often go understudied in conservation settings. Using a curated genomic dataset spanning 330 million years of evolution, 33 genuses, and 150 plant species, we aim to estimate the degree of variation in the mutation spectra, how the spectra shifts across phylogenetic scales, and connect the observed variation into underlying genes and molecular mechanisms. We are looking for an undergraduate student with prior coding experience (command line, R, or Python), an interest in molecular biology, and data management experience to lead this bioinformatics research. The undergraduate will be supervised by a postdoc in the Moi lab, Ruth Epstein.
Role: Work with large genomic datasets
Analyze SNP data, read literature, create figures
Maintain reproducible code and document analyses
Qualifications: The position is open to undergraduates at all years with interest in genomics, evolution, bioinformatics, or plant biology.
Experience coding in R or Unix is desired with at least one introduction to biological sciences course.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Ruth Epstein
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: VLSB 4115
Related website: http://
Biological & Health Sciences