Research Interest:
I am interested in the evolution of gene expression in response to changes in the environment (temperature, nutrients, xenobiotics) or genetic background (chromosomal aberrations, gene duplications). Differential gene expression is the molecular basis of phenotypic plasticity. What role do adaptation and constraints play in shaping differential gene expression? Does plastic gene expression impede adaptive evolution or provide a new target for selection? If plascticity of gene expression is lost in a constant environment, does it occur by neutral processes or by selection operating through across-environmental trade-offs? These and other questions we are trying to answer using microarray and RNAseq technology as well as bioinformatics. Study organisms include Drosophila Daphnia and Lake Baikal endemic crustaceans. Dr. Yampolsky's Laboratory Webpage
Selected Publications:
Yampolsky LY, Glazko GV, Fry JD. 2012. Evolution of gene expression and expression plasticity in long-term experimental populations of Drosophila melanogaster maintained under constant and variable ethanol stress. Molecular Ecology, 21: 4287-4299.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22774776
Williams, P., K. B. Dick and L. Y. Yampolsky. 2012. Heat tolerance, temperature acclimation and canalization of haemoglobin expression in Daphnia. Evolutionary Ecology, 26: 591-609.
Dick, K. B., C. Ross and L. Y. Yampolsky. 2011. Genetic variation of dietary restriction, nutrient-free water and amino acid supplements effects on lifespan and fecundity of Drosophila. Genetics Research, 93: 265-273. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21767463
McAnally, A. A. and L. Y. Yampolsky. 2010. Widespread transcriptional autosomal dosage compensation in Drosophila correlates with gene expression level. Genome Biology and Evolution, 2: 44-52. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20333221
Yampolsky, L. Y. and M. A. Bouzinier. 2010 Evolutionary patterns of amino acid substitutions in 12 Drosophila genomes. BMC Genomics, 11(Suppl4):S10.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21143793
Courses:
- General Genetics (BIOL3100)
- Genetics Laboratory (BIOL3141)
- Ecology (BIOL3350)
- Topics in Ecology & Evolution (BIOL5300)