Remediation of contaminated water is a principal concern in water management and conservation. In agricultural areas, that remediation extends to pesticides as well as other pollutants. While not typical of most species, many bacteria have evolved the capacity to breakdown these types of foreign compounds. In order to effectively leverage this natural process in an applied ecological context, I have collaborated with Dr. Arlene Haffa and John Silveus and their bioreactor project to describe the genomes of bacterial species that can remediate pesticides, the genetic mechanisms that are contributing to this metabolic process and community dynamics, their distributional patterns in local and coastal waters, and implemented field tests of bioreactor systems in agricultural fields in the Salinas Valley.

The lability of sex determination in fishes is truly a unique and intriguing process. Particularly, species that exhibit either sequential or simultaneous hermaphroditism present compelling cases in exploring the evolution of sex and epigenetic control. To understand the evolution of this complex process, I am examining patterns of protein coding sequence evolution and brain and gonad-associated gene expression in Serranid fishes that exhibit gonochorism (two distinct sexes), sequential hermaphroditism (in this case, protogyny), and simultaneous hermaphroditism (e.g. “egg traders”) to describe what are the likely functional genetic mechanisms contributing to the evolution of this reproductive strategy.

By examining how genomes have evolved, we gain insight into how genetic change has brought about the phenotypic diversity we see in the world around us, and how best to conserve it. I am particularly interested in using sequences for the genomes and transcriptomes of marine and terrestrial species to facilitate a deeper understanding of their evolution and biology and the factors contributing to this biodiversity. I have been involved with a variety of genome and transcriptome assembly projects and continue to enjoy participating in these inductive research experiences.

The evolution of complex traits has long been an area of keen interest to biologists. Using live-bearing Poeciliid fishes as a model species group wherein placentation has evolved multiple times, independently, Ihave been exploring the genetics contributing to the evolution of this complex trait. By examining patterns of gene expression and sequence difference between placental, or matrotrophic (“mother-feeding”), and lecithotrophic(“egg-feeding”) live-bearing sister species, I have been able to identify key contributing factors to placental evolution. I am particularly interested in how non-coding and viral gene co-option make be contributing to placental evolution as also observed in mammalian species.