Top row: Hanna Johannesson, Ioana Onut Brännström. Bottom row: Pádraic Corcoran, Jennifer Anderson, Yu Sun. Missing: Carrie Whittle, Anastasia Gioti

We use a combination of genomic and experimental approaches to study eukaryote genome evolution. Most of the work we do utilizes the fungal model system Neurospora (“the orange bread mold”) to challenge general evolutionary paradigms. More specifically, we use phylogenetic methods combined with comparative and population genomic analyses to study the connection between reproductive behavior and genome evolution. In addition, we are currently developing the system to experimentally test specific hypotheses associated with genome evolution, such as the adaptive significance of chromosomal introgression and heterokaryosis. We are also recently starting to work on lichen symbiosis.