[QSB-grads] QSB Seminar today - 10:30

[Emily Jane McTavish]

Hi all,

It looks like the regular SNS reminder didn't go out - but we have a 
great QSB seminar speaker today!

COB 110, 10:30 AM


QSB Seminar today: Noah Whiteman
http://www.noahwhiteman.org/

TALK TITLE & ABSTRACT
The evolution of novelty by small
steps and giant leaps: A tale of two toxins

Evolutionary biology finds itself in a golden age. The genomics 
revolution and new genome editing technology are providing answers to 
central questions in evolution that were out of reach even a few years 
ago. This profusion of information is difficult to integrate with 
existing theory. On one hand, the Modern Synthesis posits that 
adaptation proceeds through small, gradual steps up adaptive peaks, a 
view largely supported by these new data. On the other, horizontal gene 
transfer, hybridization, and symbioses result in large, sudden leaps to 
previously inaccessible fitness peaks, processes largely ignored by the 
Modern Synthesis. I will share two empirical studies from my laboratory 
that suggest these seemingly disparate adaptive processes are two sides 
of the same coin. Diverse insects have co-opted two different 
toxins—heart poisons from plants and DNAses from bacteria—as defenses 
against natural enemies. I will show how these remarkable adaptations 
require both small steps and giant leaps to explain their origin and 
elaboration.


-- 
Emily Jane McTavish
Assistant Professor
School of Natural Sciences
University of California, Merced
5200 N. Lake Rd, Merced CA 95343
ejmctavish at gmail.com, ejmctavish at ucmerced.edu
https://mctavishlab.github.io/ (she,her)

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