Combining research approaches in evolutionary biology: the example of the evolution of mating system
Course offered between February 2-18, 2022.
Contact. Sylvain Glémin (IEG), sylvain.glemin@ebc.uu.se
To register, directly email Sylvain at the address above.
Course aims. The aim of this course is to illustrate how to integrate various methodological approaches to address a research question in evolutionary biology. We will use the evolution of sex and mating systems as a study example because it is a central and long-standing question in evolutionary biology. As such, it has ramifications in many sub-fields–from population genetics and genomics, to evolutionary ecology and macroevolution–and has been studied through a variety of approaches, including theoretical modelling, field and experimental approaches, genomic analyses, and comparative studies.
Course content. To delineate the topic we will focus specifically on the evolution of selfing versus outcrossing. We will cover aspects of:
- Diversity of mating systems
- Basic population genetics with partial selfing
- The genomic consequences of selfing and outcrossing
- Micro-evolutionary models of the evolution of mating systems
- Mating systems and diversification (speciation/extinction)
The methods we will discuss include:
- Population genetics
- Evolutionary genomics
- Comparative methods
- Phylogenetics and diversification analyses
Course organization. The course will be organized with five two-hour sessions including both lecture and practical on R.
One credit can be obtained from this course.