GECO Evolutionary and Computational Genomics
Bioinformatics, Phylogeny and Evolutionary Genomics Group
Mugal Carina
Chargée de recherche
CNRS
I am an evolutionary geneticist particularly interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary processes that shape genetic variation within and among species. For this purpose, I use a multi-disciplinary approach spanning empirical and theoretical work within evolutionary genomics. On the empirical side, I primarily use birds and more specifically Ficedula flycatchers as a model organism, since birds show some interesting karyotype features, which make them an exciting model system in the field of genomics. On the theoretical side, I work on stochastic models solidly rooted in population genetics theory in order to improve our conceptual understanding of the genomic signatures generated by diverse evolutionary processes.
The research questions I address can be summarized into three main areas:
1) Causes and consequences of recombination rate regulation in birds
2) Speciation genomics in Ficedula flycatchers
3) A theoretical approach to the study of nonequilibrium dynamics in molecular evolution
Building on a background in mathematical sciences at the University of Graz, Austria, I completed my PhD studies in evolutionary genetics at the Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Sweden, in 2013. I then continued my post-doctoral research there, a period which coined my interest in birds as a study system. In 2017, I established as an independent researcher and focused on the study of closely related species, since closely related species form an excellent study system to investigate how different molecular mechanisms and population-level processes contribute to the build-up of genomic differences among species. I first continued my research at Uppsala University, and since 2022 I work as a CNRS researcher at the Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology (LBBE), University of Lyon 1.
Publications
Display of 1 to 30 publications on 31 in total
A Wright–Fisher graph model and the impact of directional selection on genetic variation
Theoretical Population Biology . 159 : 13-24
Journal article
see the publicationRegulatory and evolutionary impact of DNA methylation in two songbird species and their naturally occurring F1 hybrids
BMC Biology . 22 ( 1 ) : 124
Journal article
see the publicationThe role of recombination dynamics in shaping signatures of direct and indirect selection across the Ficedula flycatcher genome †
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 291 ( 2015 )
Journal article
see the publicationEvidence that genetic drift not adaptation drives fast‐Z and large‐Z effects in Ficedula flycatchers
Molecular Ecology .
DOI: 10.1111/mec.17262
Journal article
see the publicationA Nearly Neutral Model of Molecular Signatures of Natural Selection after Change in Population Size
Genome Biology and Evolution . 14 ( 5 )
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac058
Journal article
see the publicationPositive selection plays a major role in shaping signatures of differentiation across the genomic landscape of two independent Ficedula flycatcher species pairs
Evolution - International Journal of Organic Evolution . 75 ( 9 ) : 2179-2196
DOI: 10.1111/evo.14234
Journal article
see the publicationThe Effects of GC-Biased Gene Conversion on Patterns of Genetic Diversity among and across Butterfly Genomes
Genome Biology and Evolution . 13 ( 5 )
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab064
Journal article
see the publicationTissue-specific patterns of regulatory changes underlying gene expression differences among Ficedula flycatchers and their naturally occurring F 1 hybrids
Genome Research . 30 ( 12 ) : 1727-1739
Journal article
see the publicationPolymorphism Data Assist Estimation of the Nonsynonymous over Synonymous Fixation Rate Ratio ω for Closely Related Species
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 37 ( 1 ) : 260-279
Journal article
see the publicationGC-biased gene conversion conceals the prediction of the nearly neutral theory in avian genomes
Genome Biology . 20 ( 1 )
Journal article
see the publicationBiased Inference of Selection Due to GC-Biased Gene Conversion and the Rate of Protein Evolution in Flycatchers When Accounting for It
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 35 ( 10 ) : 2475-2486
Journal article
see the publicationSex‐biased gene expression, sexual antagonism and levels of genetic diversity in the collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis ) genome
Molecular Ecology . 27 ( 18 ) : 3572-3581
DOI: 10.1111/mec.14789
Journal article
see the publicationPositive selection on human gamete-recognition genes
PeerJ . 6 : e4259
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4259
Journal article
see the publicationWhole‐genome patterns of linkage disequilibrium across flycatcher populations clarify the causes and consequences of fine‐scale recombination rate variation in birds
Molecular Ecology . 26 ( 16 ) : 4158-4172
DOI: 10.1111/mec.14197
Journal article
see the publicationCovariation in levels of nucleotide diversity in homologous regions of the avian genome long after completion of lineage sorting
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 284 ( 1849 ) : 20162756
Journal article
see the publicationGenomic distribution and estimation of nucleotide diversity in natural populations: perspectives from the collared flycatcher ( Ficedula albicollis ) genome
Molecular Ecology Resources . 17 ( 4 ) : 586-597
Journal article
see the publicationHigh-Resolution Mapping of Crossover and Non-crossover Recombination Events by Whole-Genome Re-sequencing of an Avian Pedigree
PLoS Genetics . 12 ( 5 ) : e1006044
Journal article
see the publicationDivergence in gene expression within and between two closely related flycatcher species
Molecular Ecology . 25 ( 9 ) : 2015-2028
DOI: 10.1111/mec.13596
Journal article
see the publicationThe non-equilibrium allele frequency spectrum in a Poisson random field framework
Theoretical Population Biology . 111 : 51-64
Journal article
see the publicationGC‐biased gene conversion links the recombination landscape and demography to genomic base composition
BioEssays . 37 ( 12 ) : 1317-1326
Journal article
see the publicationLinked selection and recombination rate variation drive the evolution of the genomic landscape of differentiation across the speciation continuum of Ficedula flycatchers
Genome Research . 25 ( 11 ) : 1656-1665
Journal article
see the publicationEvolutionary Consequences of DNA Methylation on the GC Content in Vertebrate Genomes
G3 . 5 ( 3 ) : 441-447
Journal article
see the publicationRecombination Rate Variation Modulates Gene Sequence Evolution Mainly via GC-Biased Gene Conversion, Not Hill–Robertson Interference, in an Avian System
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 33 ( 1 ) : 216-227
Journal article
see the publicationA high‐density linkage map enables a second‐generation collared flycatcher genome assembly and reveals the patterns of avian recombination rate variation and chromosomal evolution
Molecular Ecology . 23 ( 16 ) : 4035-4058
DOI: 10.1111/mec.12810
Journal article
see the publicationWhy Time Matters: Codon Evolution and the Temporal Dynamics of dN/dS
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 31 ( 1 ) : 212-231
Journal article
see the publicationGenome-wide analysis in chicken reveals that local levels of genetic diversity are mainly governed by the rate of recombination
BMC Genomics . 14 ( 1 ) : 86
Journal article
see the publicationTwisted Signatures of GC-Biased Gene Conversion Embedded in an Evolutionary Stable Karyotype
Molecular Biology and Evolution . 30 ( 7 ) : 1700-1712
Journal article
see the publicationSubstitution rate variation at human CpG sites correlates with non-CpG divergence, methylation level and GC content
Genome Biology . 12 ( 6 ) : R58
Journal article
see the publicationConservation of Neutral Substitution Rate and Substitutional Asymmetries in Mammalian Genes
Genome Biology and Evolution . 2 : 19-28
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evp056
Journal article
see the publicationMolecular evolution of genes in avian genomes
Genome Biology . 11 ( 6 ) : 17 p.
Journal article
see the publication