Genomics of speciation: molecular basis of host adaptation and reproductive isolation in insects

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People have thought about biological origins for millennia. Ever since the crystallization of the modern evolutionary theory, identifying the genetic changes that lead to the formation of new species has been one of the most fundamental goals in Biology. For most evolutionary biologists, speciation is synonymous with the evolution of barriers to gene exchange (reproductive isolation) between diverging lineages. Despite the vast number of genes present in all organisms only relatively few genes, so called "speciation genes", are presumably involved in the origins of the species. My research focuses on the identification and characterization of speciation genes in insects, the most diverse group of animals on the Earth. To do so, my research group combines proteomics, population genomics, and quantitative/functional genetics techniques to identify genes/genomic regions responsible for a broad range of adaptations leading to population differentiation and reproductive isolation.