The Daily Bulletin

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Enhancer and Protein Divergence at Follistatin Paralogs underlying Genetic Assimilation of Wing Plasticity," presented by Kevin Deem, postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biology at the University of Rochester, today May 1, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 216. Dr. Deem received his B.S. in 2014 and Ph.D. in 2022 from Miami University. His research focuses on insect molecular biology and genetics. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar begins.

Abstract
The marvelous diversity of plant and animal forms observable in nature stems from eons of accumulated morphological innovations. Despite prolonged scientific interest, the evolutionary processes that give rise to novel phenotypes remain shrouded in mystery and debate. One promising model is genetic assimilation, in which new phenotypes that emerged from environmentally induced variation (phenotypic plasticity) can later evolve to be genetically induced; however, it remains unclear how such a switch from environmental to genetic control might occur. Dr. Deem's work aims to characterize the molecular mechanisms facilitating the genetic assimilation of a novel phenotype, to further our understanding of morphological novelty, diversity, and evolution. He utilizes the pea aphid, in which ancestral female wing polyphenism has been genetically assimilated in males via duplication of the gene follistatin (fs). His ongoing projects focus on identifying the cis-regulatory and protein functional changes between fs paralogs that facilitated the genetic assimilation of wing polyphenism.