The genetic basis of individual differences

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The aim of my research programme is to study the genetic basis of individual differences in longitudinal studies of wildlife populations using population/quantitative genetics and genomics. We do this using microsatellite DNA markers to reconstruct pedigrees, estimate inbreeding and relatedness, and to produce linkage maps in order to identify regions of the genome that may harbour adaptive variation. We also develop single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for specific genes, an activity that has been facilitated by rapidly expanding genomic resources in related model and non-model taxa and ultra high-throughput DNA sequencing. This work is made possible by collaboration with field ecologists working on long-term studies of marked individuals. Long-term studies have outstanding value for studying genetic variation expressed over the full range of naturally variable environmental conditions. Over the next five years we will focus on five long-term study populations. We now have partial pedigrees, extensive tissue and DNA collections, and databases of rich phenotypic information for bighorn sheep (Ram Mountain, AB), mountain goats (Caw Ridge, AB), red squirrels (Kluane, YK), polar bears (Western Hudson Bay, MB) and grey seals (Sable Island, NS). In these populations we will study the genetic architecture of key phenotypic traits such as horn growth in bighorn sheep, body size in mountain goats, survival and growth in red squirrels, body condition in polar bears, and maternal performance in grey seals. I believe that this work is significant and pioneering because it integrates the long-term study of individuals in the field with traditional genetic analyses and leading edge genomic approaches. Few other programmes are as well placed for working at this interface of wildlife biology and genomics in Canada. We aim to not only genetically characterize individual differences and the nature of phenotypic variation, but to ultimately test hypotheses about adaptation and evolutionary responses to changing environmental conditions and anthropogenic influences. I hope that this research programme will stimulate the transition of the field from traditional conservation genetics to a new era of conservation genomics.