I am an evolutionary biologist.
My research program is diverse and collaborative, and geared at resolving controversial questions in evolutionary biology. Much of this research stands at the crossroads between behavioural ecology and evolutionary genetics, using animals bred in our laboratories. A few examples follow below.
- It is typically assumed that the mitochondrial genetic variation we observe within and across populations is neutral to selection. My work challenges this fundamental assumption and addresses the evolutionary consequences (and consequences to biologists) of non-neutral variation in mtDNA. Check out this review: Dowling et al. 2008 Trends Ecol. Evol. 23, 546-554 (pdf 261kb).
- I investigate genetic constraints on evolution, especially in the context of male fertility. Sperm competition is rife in the animal kingdom. All else being equal, selection imposed by sperm competition should lead to adaptations in males that promote fitness (e.g. more competitive sperm). But various factors, such as mitochondrial control of sperm performance and negative genetic correlations between sperm traits, might stand in the way of such adaptive evolution. I’ve been exploring the influence that these factors have on the evolution of male fitness traits.
- A key idea in evolutionary theory is that life-history traits (such as growth and fecundity) don’t evolve freely of each other, but instead trade-off against each other. Such trade-offs are often assumed to centre around a currency of resource limitation. This is an assumption, and in most cases we simply do not know the mechanisms that underlie such life-history trade-offs. I am exploring the physiological underpinnings of life-history trade-offs, both at the phenotypic and genetic levels. I am particularly interested in the hand that free radicals (reactive metabolites crucial for life, but also highly toxic when in excess) play in the evolution of these trade-offs. Check out this review: Dowling & Simmons 2009 Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 1737-1745 (pdf 356kb).
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