University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

Qixin  He

Ph.D. student

Field of Study

Adaptive evolution, genomic evolution, speciation

Adademic Background

B.S. Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Research Interests

Acknowledging that genetic diversity is generated by both adaptive evolution and genetic drift, I'm interested to know how much the adaptive evolution contributed to it. In addition, what is the major source of adaptive evolution under different modes of selection in different spatial and time scales? Adaptive evolution via point mutation has been studied thoroughly. However, it’s still unclear how those genomic evolution events have impacts on the adaptive evolution, e.g. inversions. And how does it relate to speciation process?  Chromosomal rearrangement has long been recognized as a means to reduce recombination rate and thus barricade the gene flow, resulting in acceleration of the isolation of populations. One of the most severe malaria vector Anopheles gambiae was found to contain large polymorphisms in chromosomal inversions, which were proposed to contribute to their succesful invasion in different habitats. Currently, I'm trying to make a precise analysis of relationship between different inversions and environment, especially the implication of their contributions to adaptation.

Advisor/s

L. Lacey Knowles

Websites