EMBO Member

Deborah Charlesworth

University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom

EMBO 2014

Evolution of sex chromosomes in non-model systems

My lab currently focus on the evolution of sex chromosomes, using plants to study early stages of sex chromosome evolution, particularly the loss of genetic recombination between such pairs of chromosomes. We use molecular evolutionary approaches to study the selective force(s) for loss of recombination, and its consequences, and theoretical modelling to study selection for specialization of the sex chromosomes for male or female functions.

Keywords: Sex chromosome evolution / self-incompatibility / recombination / background selection / inbreeding depression

Subject area(s): Genomic & Computational Biology | Plant Biology | Evolution & Ecology