Experimental Evolution of Viruses. We use both computational and experimental approaches to understand how viruses adapt to their host environment. Our research attempts to determine how genome complexity constrains adaptation, and how virus ecology and genetics interact to determine whether a virus will shift to utilizing new host. In addition, we are trying to develop a framework for predicting which virus genes will contribute to adaptation in particular ecological scenarios such as frequent co-infection of hosts by multiple virus strains. For more information, and for advice on applying to graduate school at UNC, check out my lab website www.unc.edu/~cburch/lab.
We use the premier model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana, and real world plant pathogens like the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae and the oomycete Hyaloperonospora parasitica to understand the molecular nature of the plant immune system, the diversity of pathogen virulence systems, and the evolutionary mechanisms that influence plant-pathogen interactions. All of our study organisms are sequenced, making the tools of genomics accessible.
We are using C. elegans embryos to address fundamental issues such as how cells move to specific positions during embryonic morphogenesis, how the orientation of cell division is determined, how the mitotic spindle is positioned in cells and how cells respond to cell signaling. We use diverse methods, including methods of cell biology, developmental biology, forward and reverse genetics including RNA interference, biochemistry, molecular biology and live microscopy of cells and the cytoskeleton. We are also developing water bears as a
new model system to study the evolution of development.
The goal of my research is to identify, clone, and characterize the evolution of genes underlying natural adaptations in order to determine the types of genes involved, how many and what types of genetic changes occurred, and the evolutionary history of these changes. Specific areas of research include: 1) Genetic analyses of adaptations and interspecific differences in Drosophila, 2) Molecular evolution and population genetics of new genes and 3) Evolutionary analysis of QTL and genomic data.
My research focuses on plant community ecology and such related fields as plant geography, conservation biology, ecoinformatics and plant population ecology. I am particularly interested in how plant communities are assembled and vary across landscapes. Toward this end I am helping define the emerging discipline of ecoinformatics through development of international databases and standards for large-scale data integration and exchange. My current research on the vegetation of the Southeastern United States includes on-going studies of the long-term dynamics of Southeastern forests, human impacts on floodplain ecosystems, targets for restoration, and more generally factors influencing the composition and species diversity of terrestrial plant communities across a range of spatial scales.
The Chromosomal Stability Group integrates mechanisms and genetic controls of genome stability with environmental factors and stress responses to better understand their complex contributions to human health. Using budding yeast and human cell models, research focuses on genome maintenance and natural or environmental challenges to chromosome stability. Repair, replication and checkpoint functions are investigated to understand sources of genome instability and mechanisms of coping with DNA damage, particularly double-strand breaks. Included in these studies are the roles that human genes and networks, particularly p53, play in stress responses.
The primary research projects in my lab span topics from evolutionary genetics to behavioral ecology. Prior, current and future projects of mine focus on theoretical studies of speciation and reinforcement but include work on mate choice, learning and imprinting, aposematic coloration, and brood parasitism. My main goal is to use mathematical models to integrate rigorous evolutionary theory with hypotheses explaining behavioral and ecological patterns and phenomena.
FFirst, we study the complex HIV-1 population that exists within a person. We use this complexity to ask questions about viral evolution, transmission, compartmentalization, and pathogenesis. Second, we are exploring the impact of drug resistance on viral fitness and identifying new drug targets in the viral protein processing pathway. Third, we participate in a collaborative effort to develop an HIV-1 vaccine. Fourth, we are using mutagenesis to determine the role of RNA secondary structure in viral replication.
"Our lab uses computational and molecular tools to study the evolution of genome organization, primarily in the flowering plants. Areas of
investigation include the origin and consequences of differences in gene order within populations and between species, the evolutionary and functional diversification of gene families (phytome.org), and the application of genomics to evolutionary model organisms (mimulusevolution.org). We also are involved in a number of cyberinfrastructure initiatives through the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (nescent.org), including work on digital scientific libraries(datadryad.org), open bioinformatic software development (e.g. gmod.org) and the application of semantic web technologies to biological data integration(phenoscape.org)."
My lab concentrates on studying the molecular genetic basis of the evolutionary processes of adaptation and speciation. The questions we ask are what are the sequence changes that lead to variation between species and diversity within species, and what can these changes tell us about the processes that lead to their evolution. We use a number of different techniques to answer these questions, including molecular biology, sequence analyses (i.e. population genetics and molecular evolution techniques), physiological studies, and examinations of whole-organism fitness. Currently work in the lab has focused on a intertidal copepod species that is an excellent model for the initial stages of speciation (and also provides opportunities to study how populations of this species adapt to their physical environment).
