[Spotlight seminar] – Using cell expression profiles and CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis to test whether the mechanisms driving coevolution are predictable
Christopher Wheat
Stockholm University
Title: Using cell expression profiles and CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis to test whether the mechanisms driving coevolution are predictable
Short Bio
• Moved to Europe after receiving his PhD from Stanford University
• where he did 1st Postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
• 2nd Postdoc split between University of Helsinki and Penn State University
• in 2013 Recruited to Department of Zoology where he’s now a Professor
• became a Group Leader at SciLifeLab this year.
Abstract:
The vast majority of known species are flowering plants and the insects that eat them. While coevolutionary interactions between these two groups are hypothesized to have generated this exceptional biodiversity, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here I review advances in a leading research system of plant insect interactions, where gene to trait to coevolutionary connections are well established. Using ssRNAseq coupled with CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis, I will present latest advances from my group towards discovering the gene regulatory networks involved and how such insights can be used to test whether mechanisms underlying coevolutionary dynamics are predictable.
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