The
Jones lab is interested in the evolution and underlying genetics of
species-specific adaptations. Although critical to our understanding
of phenotypic evolution,
we know surprisingly little about the molecular basis of these complex
traits. The lab’s overall goal is to identify, clone and characterize
genes involved in natural adaptations in order to determine the types
of genes involved, how many and the nature of the genetic changes, and
the
evolutionary history of these changes. More specifically, their work
focuses on the genetic analysis of adaptations and interspecific differences
between
Drosophila sechellia and its close relatives, D. simulans and D. melanogaster.
D. sechellia has a unique preference for using the fruit of Morinda citrifolia
as its host, which is toxic to D. sechellia’s relatives as well
as all other species of arthropods tested thus far. The Jones lab is
currently
analyzing these traits using a combination of QTL, candidate-gene and
microarray approaches. In collaboration with David Begun at UC Davis,
they have been
developing protocols for hybridizing Drosophila genomic DNA to Affymetrix
GeneChip arrays as a method for developing genetic markers. Dr. Jones
is also involved in the D.
simulans and D. yakuba genome sequencing projects that are
currently underway. This sequence information will provide new insight
into how genomes evolve
such as which types of genes are evolving most rapidly, how new genes
arise,
and what the relationships are between recombination, DNA divergence
and DNA polymorphism.
The Jones lab is also interested in developing theoretical, bioinformatic
and statistical methods relevant to evolutionary genomics. This research
falls into three areas: (1) estimating the number of genes underlying
a quantitative trait from mapping data, (2) examining spatial patterns
of DNA sequence evolution, and (3) detecting genetic changes due to natural
selection. Selected publications:
Masly JP, Jones CD, Noor MA, Locke J, Orr HA. (2006) Gene transposition as a cause of hybrid sterility in Drosophila. Science. 313:1448-50.
Levine MT, Jones CD, Kern AD, Lindfors HA, Begun DJ. (2006) Novel genes derived from noncoding DNA in Drosophila melanogaster are frequently X-linked and exhibit testis-biased expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 103:9935-9.
Jones CD, Begun DJ. (2005) Parallel evolution of chimeric fusion
genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:11373-8.
Jones
CD (2005) The genetics of adaptation in Drosophila sechellia. Genetica.
123:137-45. Review.
Jones
CD, Custer AW, and Begun DJ. (2005) Origin and evolution of a chimeric
fusion gene in Drosophila subobscura, Drosophila
madeirensis, and Drosophila guanche. Genetics 170:207-19.
Kern AD, Jones CD, Begun DJ. (2004) Molecular population genetics
of male accessory gland proteins in the Drosophila simulans complex.
Genetics 167:725-735. Jones
CD. (2004) Genetics of egg production in Drosophila sechellia.
Heredity 92:235-241.
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