Evan Forsythe - Graduate Student
B.A. Biology, Saint John’s University, 2011.
I am a fourth year PhD candidate from Minnesota. My research in the lab lies at the intersection of evolutionary biology and molecular biology. I use phylogenetics and comparative genomics to understand genome-level processes such as gene/genome duplication, pseudogenization, and gene contraction/expansion and how they influence the evolution of gene families and gene functions. I use this context to generate hypotheses about the evolution of novel gene functions (neo-functionalization, sub-functionalization, etc.), which I test further with computational tests for selection and, ultimately, reverse genetics to probe cellular function.
Although much of my work involves tracking complicated gene family evolution within a fairly well-resolved organismal history, I also use genome-wide phylogenetic signal (phylogenomics) to resolve organismal histories that are heavily complicated by population-level processes such as deep coalescence and reticulate evolution.
Brassicaceae is an excellent system to study all of the above, as the family contains many important model and crop species with publically available whole-genome sequences. Brassicaceae genomes are shaped by several well-described whole-genome duplications and chromosomal rearrangements. Many members of the family are amenable to floral dip mediated transformation, allowing for multi-species functional tests.
I spend most of my free time outdoors exploring the vast southwest, mostly searching for hidden camping and fly-fishing spots.
Email: esforsythe@email.arizona.edu
I am a fourth year PhD candidate from Minnesota. My research in the lab lies at the intersection of evolutionary biology and molecular biology. I use phylogenetics and comparative genomics to understand genome-level processes such as gene/genome duplication, pseudogenization, and gene contraction/expansion and how they influence the evolution of gene families and gene functions. I use this context to generate hypotheses about the evolution of novel gene functions (neo-functionalization, sub-functionalization, etc.), which I test further with computational tests for selection and, ultimately, reverse genetics to probe cellular function.
Although much of my work involves tracking complicated gene family evolution within a fairly well-resolved organismal history, I also use genome-wide phylogenetic signal (phylogenomics) to resolve organismal histories that are heavily complicated by population-level processes such as deep coalescence and reticulate evolution.
Brassicaceae is an excellent system to study all of the above, as the family contains many important model and crop species with publically available whole-genome sequences. Brassicaceae genomes are shaped by several well-described whole-genome duplications and chromosomal rearrangements. Many members of the family are amenable to floral dip mediated transformation, allowing for multi-species functional tests.
I spend most of my free time outdoors exploring the vast southwest, mostly searching for hidden camping and fly-fishing spots.
Email: esforsythe@email.arizona.edu
