Bioinformatics, Phylogeny and Evolutionary Genomics Group

Members

Our group focuses on two main axes: phylogenomics (i.e. the inference of evolutionary history based on genomics data) and evolutionary genomics (understanding the molecular and population processes that drive genome evolution). We see genomes both as a subject of research (how do genomes evolve, why are they structured the way they are?), but also as a main source of empirical knowledge about the macroevolutionary patterns (what do they tell us about the history of life on Earth?), or about the phenotypes and life-history strategies of organisms. Our works heavily rely on methodological developments (bioinformatics, modeling and statistical inference).

Evolution of genome architecture and expression

Genomes are the result of a long-term evolutionary process, shaped by multiple evolutionary forces. Some genomic features are adaptive (i.e. are beneficial for the fitness of organisms), others result from non-adaptive processes (random drift and biased gene conversion - BGC) or are caused by conflicts between multiple levels of selection (e.g. meiotic drive or the spread of selfish genetic elements). We explore different aspects of genome architecture (base composition landscapes, genome structure and size, impact of transposable elements, …) or functioning (gene expression, lncRNAs, epigenetic landscapes, …), and try to disentangle the relative contribution of adaptive and non-adaptive processes to their evolution. For this purpose, we consider both the molecular mechanisms (mutation, repair, recombination) and the population processes (selection, drift, BGC, …) that shape genetic variation.

Phylogenomics

We are interested in reconstructing the history of life on Earth. This research unfolds along several axes. First, we develop phylogenomic databases of aligned genetic sequences (e.g. BIBI, RiboDB or HOGENOM). Second, we conduct methodological research on how to accurately reconstruct deep phylogenies, infer divergence times, reconstruct ancestral genetic sequences, gene repertoires and life-history traits. This methodological work is translated into publicly available software programs (e.g. SeaView, PhyloBayes, Coevol). Finally, we apply these approaches to several important problems, among which: reconstructing the phylogeny of animals, of archaea, or the global tree of life; using phylogenies and ancestral gene repertoires to investigate the evolution of complex systems and the emergence of molecular and cellular functions in the three domains of life; reconstructing ancestral genetic sequences, a research activity that has industrial and biotechnological applications.

Teaching and outreach

We teach at University Lyon 1 (Master Bioinfo@Lyon), INSA, ENS Lyon, we organize bioinformatics internships. We regularly give conferences on evolution (tree of life, human evolution, genetic diversity, …).
Prospective students and postdocs are invited to apply, as we often welcome visitors for internships or research projects.
 
Keywords: Molecular evolution and Population Genomics; Phylogenomics; Computational Genomics; Comparative genomics; Bioinformatics; Statistical inference.

Publications

Display of 1 to 30 publications on 852 in total

MicroAnnot: A Dedicated Workflow for Accurate Microsporidian Genome Annotation

Jérémy Tournayre, Valérie Polonais, Ivan Wawrzyniak, Reginald Florian Akossi, Nicolas Parisot, Emmanuelle Lerat...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202310.1822.v1

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Look4LTRs: A Long terminal repeat retrotransposon detection tool capable of cross species studies and discovering recently nested repeats

Anthony Garza, Emmanuelle Lerat, Hani Girgis

DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.28.551030

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Phylogenomic analysis of protein‐coding genes resolves complex gall wasp relationships

Jack Hearn, Erik Gobbo, José Luis Nieves-Aldrey, Antoine Branca, James Nicholls, Georgios Koutsovoulos...

Systematic Entomology .

DOI: 10.1111/syen.12611

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How genomics can help biodiversity conservation

Kathrin Theissinger, Carlos Fernandes, Giulio Formenti, Iliana Bista, Paul Berg, Christoph Bleidorn...

Trends in Genetics .

DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.01.005

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Bridging the gap between the evolutionary dynamics and the molecular mechanisms of meiosis : a model based exploration of the PRDM9 intra-genomic Red Queen

Alice Genestier, Laurent Duret, Nicolas Lartillot

DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.08.531712

Preprint

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Compositionally Constrained Sites Drive Long-Branch Attraction

Lénárd L Szánthó, Nicolas Lartillot, Gergely J Szöllősi, Dominik Schrempf

Systematic Biology . 72 ( 4 ) : 767 - 780

DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syad013

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Identifying the Best Approximating Model in Bayesian Phylogenetics: Bayes Factors, Cross-Validation or wAIC?

Nicolas Lartillot

Systematic Biology . 72 : 616 - 638

DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syad004

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Genes and sites under adaptation at the phylogenetic scale also exhibit adaptation at the population-genetic scale

Thibault Latrille, Nicolas Rodrigue, Nicolas Lartillot

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 120 ( 11 ) : e2214977120

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214977120

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Random genetic drift sets an upper limit on mRNA splicing accuracy in metazoans

Florian Bénitìere, Anamaria Necsulea, Laurent Duret

Peer Community in Evolutionary Biology .

DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.09.519597

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Deciphering evolutionary trajectories of lactate dehydrogenases provides new insights into allostery.

Adeline Robin, Céline Brochier-Armanet, Quentin Bertrand, Caroline Barette, Eric Girard, Dominique Madern

Molecular Biology and Evolution . msad223

DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad223

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The porphyran degradation system of the human gut microbiota is complete, phylogenetically diverse and geographically structured across Asian populations

Sophie Mathieu, Mélanie Touvrey, Laurent Poulet, Sophie Drouillard, Thirumalai Selvi Ulaganathan, Laure Ségurel...

DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.30.534863

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Proposed mechanism for the selection of lactase persistence in childhood

Alexandre Fabre, Anne Fabre, Céline Bon, Paul Guerry, Laure Ségurel

BioEssays . 45 ( 7 )

DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200243

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Bradyrhizobium commune sp. nov., isolated from nodules of a wide range of native legumes across the Australian continent

Bénédicte Lafay, Elina Coquery, Philippe M Oger

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology . 73 ( 7 ) : 005971

DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005971

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A Nearly Neutral Model of Molecular Signatures of Natural Selection after Change in Population Size

Rebekka Müller, Ingemar Kaj, Carina Mugal

Genome Biology and Evolution . 14 ( 5 )

DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac058

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Hydrogen isotope measurements of bone and dental tissues from archaeological human and animal samples and their use as climatic and diet proxies

Thibault Clauzel, Pascale Richardin, Jannick Ricard, Yves Le Béchennec, Romain Amiot, François Fourel...

Journal of Archaeological Science . 147 : 105676

DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2022.105676

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Climate conditions and dietary practices during the Second Iron Age studied through the multi-isotope analysis of bones and teeth from individuals of Thézy-Glimont, Picardie, France

Thibault Clauzel, Pascale Richardin, Jannick Ricard, Yves Le Béchennec, Romain Amiot, François Fourel...

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences . 14 ( 4 ) : 61

DOI: 10.1007/s12520-022-01534-1

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Modeling the spatiotemporal spread of beneficial alleles using ancient genomes

Rasa Muktupavela, Martin Petr, Laure Ségurel, Thorfinn Korneliussen, John Novembre, Fernando Racimo

eLife . 11

DOI: 10.7554/eLife.73767

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Genes and sites under adaptation at the phylogenetic scale also exhibit adaptation at the population-genetic scale

T. Latrille, N. Rodrigue, Nicolas Lartillot

DOI: 10.1101/2022.09.23.509132

Preprint

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The era of reference genomes in conservation genomics

Giulio Formenti, Kathrin Theissinger, Carlos Fernandes, Iliana Bista, Aureliano Bombarely, Christoph Bleidorn...

Trends in Ecology and Evolution . 37 ( 3 ) : 197-202

DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.008

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Population designations in biomedical research: limitations and perspectives

Caroline Gombault, Guillaume Grenet, Laure Ségurel, Laurent Duret, François Gueyffier, Pascal Cathébras...

HLA: Immune Response Genetics .

DOI: 10.1111/tan.14852

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Codiversification of gut microbiota with humans

Taichi Suzuki, J. Liam Fitzstevens, Victor Schmidt, Hagay Enav, Kelsey Huus, Mirabeau Mbong Ngwese...

Science . 377 ( 6612 ) : 1328-1332

DOI: 10.1126/science.abm7759

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The era of reference genomes in conservation genomics

Giulio Formenti, Kathrin Theissinger, Carlos Fernandes, Iliana Bista, Aureliano Bombarely, Christoph Bleidorn...

Trends in Ecology & Evolution . 37 ( 3 ) : 197-202

DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.008

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Protein conformational space at the edge of allostery: turning a nonallosteric malate dehydrogenase into an “allosterized” enzyme using evolution-guided punctual mutations

Antonio Iorio, Céline Brochier-Armanet, Caroline Mas, Fabio Sterpone, Dominique Madern

Molecular Biology and Evolution . 39 ( 9 ) : msac186

DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac186

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GOntact: using chromatin contacts to infer Gene Ontology enrichments for cis -regulatory elements

Alexandre Laverré, Eric Tannier, Philippe Veber, Anamaria Necsulea

DOI: 10.1101/2022.06.13.495495

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An Improved Codon Modeling Approach for Accurate Estimation of the Mutation Bias

Thibault Latrille, Nicolas Lartillot

Molecular Biology and Evolution . 39

DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac005

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A divide-and-conquer phylogenomic approach based on character supermatrices resolves early steps in the evolution of the Archaea

Monique Aouad, Jean-Pierre Flandrois, Frédéric Jauffrit, Manolo Gouy, Simonetta Gribaldo, Celine Brochier-Armanet

BMC Ecology and Evolution . 22 ( 1 ) : 1-12

DOI: 10.1186/s12862-021-01952-0

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