A generalist gaze into evolutionary biology
A overview of my scientific interests, the current research projects in which I am working on, and some other diversions.
En el curso 2014/15 imparto docencia de "Biología Evolutiva" (1er curso del Grado de Biología) y los cursos "Creatividad, Rigor y Comunicación en Ciencia", "Discusiones multidisciplinares en Genética y Evolución" y "Filogeografía y Filogenias moleculares" dentro del Master "Genética y Evolución".
My scientific publications, and some additional materials on teaching. Listed by year.
It is conjectured that the geographic variation in pollination niches has contributed to the observed floral divergence in E. mediohispanicum. The process mediating this floral divergence presumably has been adaptive wandering, but the adaptation to the local pollinator faunas has been not universal.
We quantified floral integration in Erysimum using geometric morphometrics and explored its evolution using phylogenetic comparative methods. Corolla-shape integration was low but significantly different from zero. Spatial autocorrelation and phylogenetic signal in corolla-shape integration were not detected. Integration in Erysimum seems to have evolved in a way that is consistent with Brownian motion, but with frequent convergent evolution.
Anja Rösler sucessfully optained her PhD grade with the thesis “The origins and evolution of the Indo-Pacific reef coralline algae”. Anja's thesis was supervised by Juan Carlos Braga (Dept Paleontology) and F. Perfectti (Dept. Genetics).
The level of B-specific rDNA expression is extremely low even in individuals where B chromosome rDNA is not completely silenced. The relative contribution of B chromosome rRNA genes to ribosome biogenesis appears to be insignificant.
We explored the association between individual variation in inbreeding depression and plant traits associated with pollinator attractiveness in two populations of Erysimum mediohispanicum. We found significant associations between ID and corolla diameter and stalk height, being taller plants with larger corollas those undergoing a lower intensity of inbreeding depression.