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Adaptation

Revealing the genetic basis of morphological and physiological adaptation is still a challenge, especially for non-model organisms. We are working together with physiologists and biochemists to also go beyond identifying DNA sequence regions that show signals of positive selection by functionally testing allelic variants both in-vitro and in-vivo. This field of research is becoming increasingly important for understanding the genetic basis of adaptations of species both due to environmental changes and during domestication.

Recent selected publications

Wutke, S., Andersson, L., Benecke, N., Sandoval-Castellanos, E., Gonzalez, J., Hallsson, J.H., Lõugas, L., Magnell, O., Morales-Muniz, A., Orlando, L., Pálsdóttir, A.H., Reissmann, M., Muñoz-Rodríguez, M.B., Ruttkay, M., Trinks, A., Hofreiter, M. and Ludwig A. (2016) The origin of ambling horses. Current Biology, 26 (15), R697-9 (published online 8th August 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001).


Le Duc, D., Renaud, G., Prüfer, K., Stenzel, U., Ongyerth, M., Krishnan, A., Sällman Almén, M., Schiöth, H.B., Huynen, L., Lambert, D., Hofreiter, M., Prohaska, S.J., Stadler, P.F., Kelso, J. & Schöneberg, T. (2015) Kiwi genome sequences provide insight into the evolution of a flightless, nocturnal ratite. Genome Biology, 16, 147 (published online 23rd July 2015, doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0711-4).


Ludwig, A., Reissmann, M., Benecke, N., Bellone, R., Sandoval-Castellanos, E., Cieslak, M., Fortes, G.G., Morales-Muñiz, A., Hofreiter, M. and Pruvost, M. (2015) 25,000 years of fluctuating selection on leopard complex spotting and congenital night blindness in horses. Phil Trans R Soc B, 370 (1660), 20130386 (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0386).

Schubert, M., Jónsson, H., Chang, D., Der Sarkissian, C., Ermini, L., Ginolhac, A., Albrechtsen, A., Dupanloup, I., Foucal, A., Petersen, B., Raghavan, M., Seguin-Orlando, A., Korneliussen, T., Velazquez, A.M.V., Stenderup, J., Hoover, C.A., Rubin, C.J., Alfarhan, A.H.. Alquraishi, S.A., Al-Rasheid, K.A.S., MacHugh, D.E., Kalbfleish, T., MacLeod, J.N., Rubin, E.M., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Andersson, L., Hofreiter, M., Marques-Bonet, T., Gilbert, M.T.P., Nielsen, R., Excoffier, L., Willerslev, E., Shapiro, B. and Ludovic Orlando, L. (2014) Prehistoric horse genomes reveal the genetic foundation and cost of domestication.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A, 111 (52), E5661-9 (published online 15th December 2014; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1416991111).

Huynen, L., Suzuki, T., Ogura, T., Watanabe, Y., Millar, C.D., Hofreiter, M., Smith, C., Mirmoeini, S. and Lambert, D.M. (2014) Reconstruction and in vivo analysis of the extinct tbx5 gene from ancient wingless moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes). BMC Evol Biol, 14, 75.

Campbell, K.L., Roberts, J.E.E., Watson, L.N., Stetefeld, J., Sloan, A.M., Signore, A.V., Tame, J.R.H., Rohland, N., Shen, T.-J., Austin, J.J., Hofreiter, M., Ho, C., Weber, R.E. and Cooper, A. (2010) Substitutions in woolly mammoth hemoglobin confer biochemical properties adaptive for cold tolerance. Nature Genetics, 42 (6), 536-40 (published online 2nd May 2010).