Charles F Aquadro

Charles A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences

Overview

I am a research scientist and educator. I view these responsibilities part of a continuum that runs from current students to alumni to the general public. My research is focused on discovering basic principles that determine the amount of diversity that exists within and between the genomes of organisms, and how we can use that diversity to understand organismal diversity, to discover novel genes, to maximize human health, and to advance agriculture. Our research is carried out primarily with Drosophila, though past work has included mammals and plants. My teaching covers the concepts and methodologies of population genetics and comparative genomics, and personal genomics and medicine. I teach a large undergraduate class in personal genomics and medicine. I had previously taught the core Population Genetics course at Cornell since 1986. I have given explorations for introductory biology students, alumni lectures on the genetics of diversity and genomics, and served as scientific advisor to science television (NOVA, WGBH, Discovery Channel).

Research Focus

My research is focused on discovering basic principles that determine the amount of diversity that exists within and between the genomes of organisms, and how we can use that diversity to understand organismal diversity, to discover novel genes, to maximize human health, and to advance agriculture. Our research is carried out primarily with Drosophila, though past work has included mammals and plants. My teaching covers the concepts and methodologies of population genetics and comparative genomics, and personal genomics and medicine.

Publications

  • Pegueroles, C. A., Mari-Solano, M., Aquadro, C. F., Pascual, M., Mestres, F., & , (2016). Inversions and adaptation to the plant toxin ouabain shape DNA sequence variation within and between chromosomal inversions of Drosophila subobscura. Science Reports. 6:23754.
  • Choi, J. Y., & Aquadro, C. F. (2016). Recent and long term selection across synonymous sites in Drosophila ananassae. Journal of Molecular Evolution. Early-Online:1-11.
  • Bui, D. T., Dine, E., Anderson, J. B., Aquadro, C. F., & Alani, E. (2015). A genetic incompatibility accelerates adaptation in yeast. PLoS Genetics. 11:e1005407.
  • Choi, J. Y., & Aquadro, C. F. (2015). Molecular evolution of Drosophila germline stem cell and neural stem cell regulating genes. Genome Biology and Evolution. 7:3097-3114.
  • Choi, J. Y., Bubnell, J. E., & Aquadro, C. F. (2015). Population genomic analysis of the infectious and integrated Wolbachia pipientis genomes in Drosophila ananassae. Genome Biology and Evolution. 7:236-282. 
  • Flores, H. A., Bubnell, J. E., Aquadro, C. F., & Barbash, D. A. (2015). The Drosophila bag of marbles gene interacts genetically with Wolbachia and shows female-specific effects of divergence. PLoS Genetics. 11:e1005453. 
  • Flores, H. A., Bauer DuMont, V. L., Fatoo, A., Hubbard, D., Hijji, M., Barbash, D. A., & Aquadro, C. F. (2015). Adaptive evolution of genes involved in the regulation of germline stem cells in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. G3: Genes, Genomics, Genetics. 5:583-592.
  • Zaborske, J. M., Bauer DuMont, V. L., Wallace, E. W., Pan, T., Aquadro, C. F., & Drummond, D. A. (2014). A nutrient-driven tRNA modification alters translational fidelity and genome-wide protein coding across an animal genus. PLoS Biology. 12:e1002015 (13 pages).
  • Choi, J. Y., & Aquadro, C. F. (2014). The coevolutionary period of Wolbachia pipientis infecting Drosophila ananassae and its impact on the evolution of the host germline stem cell regulating genes. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 31:2457 - 2471.
  • Singh, N. D., Stone, E. A., Aquadro, C. F., & Clark, A. (2013). Fine-scale heterogeneity in crossover rate in the garnet-scalloped region of the D. melanogaster X chromosome. Genetics. 194:375-387.

 

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