Events

Butterflies as Genomic Models in Ecology and Evolution

Two day conference at the University of Exeter

Event details

Event information

This two day workshop will be centred on addressing the challenges involved in whole genome sequencing, to achieve novel high impact insights in ecology and evolution using butterflies as a model system. It will feature presentations from leading international research groups in the field, providing examples of how the power of massive genomic data sets can be harnessed to tackle fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology.

Programme

Thursday 27 July

Time Speaker/s Topic
09.00 - 09.15 Dr Alex Hayward, University of Exeter, UK Welcome and introduction
SESSION 1: RESOURCES AND METHODS Chair: Dr Alex Hayward
09.15 - 10.10 Professor Mark Blaxter, Dr Richard Challis, and Dr Suraj Kumar, University of Edinburgh, UK LepBase: a community database for lepidopteran genomics
10.10 - 10.30 Dr Kumar Singh, University of Exeter, UK Genome sequencing of the highly heterozygous African Queen butterfly, Danaus chryssipus
10.30 - 11.00 Tea break  
11.00 - 11.35 Mark Thornber, Pacific Biosciences Long read SMRT sequencing - addressing the challenges involved in whole genome sequencing
11.35 - 12.10 Dr Alvaro Martinez Barrio, 10X Genomics 10X ecological genomics
12.10 - 13.10 Lunch break  
SESSION 2: SUPERGENES AND MIMICRY Chair: Dr Konrad Lohse
13.10 - 14.00 Dr Krushnamegh Kunte, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India The evolution and genetics of an iconic adaptation: a population genomics tale in 40 parts
14.00 - 14.20 Emma Curran, University of Sheffield, UK The genetic architecture of iridescence in Heliconius butterflies
14.20 - 14.30 Short break  
14.30 - 15.20 Professor Haruhiko Fujiwara, University of Tokyo, Japan Molecular biological and genomics approach to reveal the genetic mechanism and evolution of Batesian mimicry supergene in Papilio butterflies
15.20 - 15.50 Tea break  
SESSION 3: SEX CHROMOSOMES Chair: Professor Richard ffrench-Constant
15.50 - 16.40 Dr Beatriz Vicoso, Institute of Science and Technology, Austria Sex chromosome evolution in Lepidoptera
16.40 - 17.00 Dr Virpi Ahola, University of Helsinki, Finland Sex chromosome dosage compensation in Melitaea cinxia
17.00 - 17.10 Short break  
17.10 - 18.00 Dr Simon Martin, University of Cambridge, UK Suppressed recombination in the African Queen hybrid zone and the origin of a neo-W
18.00 - 18.20 Dr Petr Nguyen, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic Neo-sex chromosomes in Lepidoptera: rule or exception

Friday 28 July

SESSSION 4: BEHAVIOURAL GENETICS Chair: Dr Karl Wotton
09.00 - 09.50 Dr Richard Merrill, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet, Munich, Germany Genetic dissection of assortative mating behaviour
09.50 - 10.40 Professor Adriana Briscoe, University of California, Irvine, USA Sexual dimorphism and retinal mosaic diversification following the evolution of a violet receptor in butterflies
10.40 - 11.10 Tea break  
11.10 - 12.00 Dr Marcus Kronforst, University of Chicago, USA Exploring the genetic basis of herbivory between butterflies and their host plants
12.00 - 12.20 Dirleane Ottonelli Rossato, University of Sheffield, UK Evolution of morphological traits in Nymphalidae with emphasis on dispersion
12.20 - 13.20 Lunch break  
SESSION 5: SPECIATION Chair: Professor Mark Blaxter
13.20 - 14.10 Professor Jim Mallet, Harvard University, USA Heliconius butterfly genomics is messing up our understanding of species
14.10 - 15.00 Dr Niclas Backstroem, University of Uppsala, Sweden Genomic approaches to investigate adaptation, speciation and karyotype evolution in wood-white (Leptidea) butterflies 
15.00 - 15.30 Tea break  
15.30 - 16.00 Dr Konrad Lohse, University of Edinburgh, UK Are speciation islands real? A test in Heliconius butterflies
16.00 - 16.50 Dr Mathieu Joron, University of Montpellier, France The ecology of chromosomal inversions: introgression, demography, and the maintenance of polymorphism
16.50 - 17.10 Dr Casper Breuker, Oxford Brookes University, UK Divergent patterns of early embryogenesis in butterflies; characterising standing genetic variation and signatures of selection of developmental genes in an ecological context
17.10 Discussion and closing remarks  

Registration

Please email requests for attendance, and presentation titles/abstracts (up to 150 words), by 20th June to: exeterbutterflies@gmail.com

Successful requests for attendance and presentations will be notified by 27th June.

Please visit the university accommodation web page if you would to book accommodation on campus.

Hosted by the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on 27 and 28 July 2017

Location:

Centre for Ecology & Conservation University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, UK