​Genomic basis of environmental adaptation in natural populations

Understanding how natural selection shapes patterns of genetic and phenotypic variation is one of the central goals of evolutionary biology. One approach is to look within and across populations for repeated genetic changes that are associated with environmental variables. With my advisor Michael Nachman, we are comparing populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) along a latitudinal cline. House mice have recently expanded their range across North America, and there is good evidence for evolutionary change over short time scales. In contrast, deer mice serve as a comparative model for evolutionary change over longer time scales as they are endemic to North America. This project provides a unique opportunity for studying the genomic basis underlying environmental adaptation in co-distributed species.

The role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution

The contributions of phenotypic plasticity to adaptive evolution remains an unresolved problem in evolutionary biology. House mice (Mus musculus domesticus) provide a unique opportunity to investigate the role of plasticity in environmental adaptation as they have broad latitudinal distributions across the Americas. For example, house mice can be found from the tropics to to the arctic, and populations inhabiting these different environments have adapted to different temperature regimes. With my advisor Michael Nachman, we are using wild-derived populations of house mice collected from temperate and tropical environments to understand the contributions of plasticity to latitudinal-related population differences.

Evolution of dormancy

​ Animals inhabiting seasonal environments may undergo dormancy (e.g. hibernation, diapause) to combat unfavorable conditions. The genomic and molecular underpinnings associated with dormancy are still largely unknown. In collaboration with Kate Wilsterman, Caroline Williams, and Peter Sudmant, we are investigating the physiological and genomic characteristics of dormancy across the tree of life. For my master's thesis with Matt Andrews, I investigated the genetic and mechanistic underpinnings associated with metabolic characteristics of mammalian hibernation.  Specifically, we used RNA-seq, proteomics, and mitochondrial assays to dissect the metabolic dynamics of brown adipose tissue in the 13-lined ground squirrel.

Mallory A. Ballinger

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology - University of California, Berkeley
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
Berkeley, CA  94720-3160
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