PhD Studentship: The Genomic Architecture of Adaptation in Drosophila Melanogaster

Primary supervisor - Dr Karl Grieshop 

Background  

Understanding how organisms adapt to their environment is fundamental to evolutionary biology and a pressing concern amidst the climate and biodiversity crises. Can evolution by natural selection “keep up” with the rapid pace of climate change? Evolution is a slow process of allele frequency changes over generations, but if alleles are dominant when / where they benefit fitness and recessive when / where deleterious – a phenomenon known as “dominance reversal” – it can facilitate rapid adaptation and make the population resilient to fluctuating environments. Further, sex differences in the strength and direction of selection can also affect adaptation. Taken together, dominance reversals between sexes and environments represent an exciting new angle to the study of adaptation, with a rich theoretical foundation, growing empirical interest, and much more to learn.  

Project 

The research integrates quantitative genetics and transcriptomics in Drosophila melanogaster with simulations in SLiM to address these questions:  

1.    What is the role of dominance reversal between sex and temperature in facilitating climate adaptation?  
2.    What is the genetic architecture of sex- / temperature-specific fitness? 
3.    How does dominance-reversed gene expression relate to fitness?  
4.    Can we identify specific genomic loci that mediate climate adaptation?  

There will be many opportunities to develop your own ideas and tailor your PhD experience to match your career ambitions.

Training  

The University of East Anglia is an enriching research environment in Norwich Research Park, home to numerous biotechnology research institutes that offer bioinformatic training and support. The department features a highly collaborative community of leading experts in evolutionary biology (e.g. Bergström, Davidson, Chapman, Immler, Maklakov, Richardson) and forms part of the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. You will receive direct training from the primary supervisor (KG) and his lab in Drosophila husbandry, experimental design, biological statistics, quantitative genetics, RNA extraction, bioinformatics, population genetic simulations, programming (R, bash, Python, SLiM), as well as scientific writing for grant funding and publication.  

Person specification  

Degree in biology / ecology / evolution / genetics / similar 

Helpful skills: Drosophila experience, evolutionary knowledge, enthusiasm to learn statistics / coding / bioinformatics, keenness to read and write. 

For further information, please visit www.aries-dtp.ac.uk

Funding Details

Additional Funding Information

ARIES is awaiting confirmation of funding under the BBSRC-NERC DLA award scheme, which is expected shortly. Funding for this studentship is subject to this confirmation and UKRI terms and conditions. Successful candidates who meet UKRI’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded ARIES studentship of fees, maintenance stipend (£19,237 p.a. for 2024/25) and research costs.

A limited number of ARIES studentships are available to International applicants. Please note however that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK.

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