Kanchon Dasmahapatra
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	Darwin Building Gower Street Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT Tel: +44 0207 6792323 Fax: +44 0207 6797193 Email:

Education

• PhD, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge - thesis
• MRes Environmental Sciences, Department of Geography, University College London
• BA Natural Sciences, Pembroke College, University of Cambridge

Research

I am interested in the application of molecular markers to understanding evolutionary processes and species biology. My current work focuses on Ithomiine and Heliconiine butterflies. These highly diverse butterflies occur throughout the Neotropics and possess mimetic warning colour patterns. This research is concentrates on several areas:

Speciation genomics - Using high-throughput sequencing techniques (whole genome sequencing, SureSelect and RAD) and the Heliconius melpomene reference genome I am investigating aspects of speciation such as evidence of introgression, adaptive introgression and islands of speciation.

Pleistocene refugia hypothesis - The Amazon is reknown for its high species diversity. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this diversity, one of the most widely accepted of which is allopatric speciation in forest refugia formed during arid spells in the Pleistocene. A consequence of such a mode of species formation would be highly correlated species divergence times. I am using gene genealogies to investigate divergence times between multiple pairs of sister taxa within a small area of Peru with a well defined "suture" zone (a well defined area where many pairs of taxa meet).

Melinaea phylogeny - There is an ongoing international effort to obtain complete phylogenies of the various Ithomiine genera using mitochondrial and multiple nuclear genes. One of the goals of these complete phylogenies is to understand the evolution of mimicry colour patterns. I am involved in constructing a phylogeny of the genus Melinaea. Members of this genera are thought to drive the black/brown/orange mimicry rings. Intriguingly, initial results appear to indicate that species in this genera have shown very rapid recent speciation, indicating that many of the colour pattern mimicry rings may be of recent origin and could have arisen long after speciation.

DNA barcoding - Due to the impressive mimicry rings formed by the Heliconiine and Ithomiine, these have long attracted the attention of collectors and taxonomists. Therefore, these butterflies are morphologically well characterised. Coupled with the high species and subspecies richness this makes them ideal taxa for testing DNA sequence-based methods of species identification, popularly known as DNA barcoding. I am investigating the efficacy of mtDNA-based species identification and the benefits of adding nuclear genes to such methods.

Wolbachia - I am also involved with investigating the prevalence of infection by Wolbachia and other maternally transmitted sex ratio distorting endosymbionts in Ithomiine butterflies and in establishing the evolutionary consequences of such infections.

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Collaborators

• Mark Blaxter - University of Edinburgh, UK
• Marianne Elias - Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
• Chris Jiggins - University of Cambridge, UK
• Mathieu Joron - Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
• Joe Hoffman - Bielefeld University, Germany
• Jim Mallet - University College London, UK

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Publications

Dasmahapatra KK, Walters JR et al (advanced online publication) Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species. Nature XXX: xxx-xxx. (Open Access)

Hill RI, Elias M, Dasmahapatra KK, Jiggins CD, Koong V, Willmott KR, Mallet J (in press) Ecologically relevant cryptic species in the highly polymorphic Amazonian butterfly Mechanitis mazaeus sensu lato (Lepidoptera : Nymphalidae ; Ithomiini). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society XX: xxx-xxx.

Nadeau NJ, Whibley A, Jones RT, Davey JW, Dasmahapatra KK, Baxter SW, Quail MA, Joron M, ffrench-Constant RH, Blaxter ML, Mallet J, Jiggins CD (2012). Genomic islands of divergence in hybridizing Heliconius butterflies identified by large-scale targeted sequencing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367: 343-353. . supplementary material

McInnes L, Baker WJ, Barraclough TG, Dasmahapatra KK, Goswami A, Harmon LJ, Morlon H, Purvis A, Rosindell J, Thomas GH, Turvey ST, Phillimore A (2011) Integrating ecology into macroevolutionary research. Biology Letters 7: 644-646.

Mallet J, Dasmahapatra KK (2011) Catfish mimics. (News and Views on Alexandrou et al. in the same issue) Nature 469: 41-42.

Dasmahapatra KK, Lamas G, Simpson F, Mallet J (2010) The anatomy of a 'suture zone' in Amazonian butterflies: a coalescent-based test for vicariant geographic divergence and speciation. Molecular Ecology 19: 4283-4301. . supplementary material

Dasmahapatra KK, Elias M, Hill RI, Hoffman JI, Mallet J (2010) Mitochondrial DNA barcoding detects some species that are real, and some that are not. Molecular Ecology Resources 10: 264-273.. supplementary material

Hoffman JI, Dasmahapatra KK, Amos W, Phillips CD, Gelatt TS, Bickham JW (2009) Contrasting patterns of genetic diversity at three different genetic markers in a marine mammal metapopulation. Molecular Ecology 18: 2961-2978.

Dasmahapatra KK, Hoffman JI, Amos W (2009) Pinniped phylogenetic relationships inferred using AFLP markers. Heredity 103: 168-177.

Dasmahapatra KK, Lacy RC, Amos W (2007) Estimating levels of inbreeding using AFLP markers. Heredity 100: 286-295.
FAFLPcalc.xls: Excel macro using the iterative process described in the publication to estimate inbreeding coefficients from AFLP data.
FAFLPcalc.doc: Some documentation on using the macro.

Hoffman JI, Dasmahapatra KK, Nichols HJ (2007) Ten novel polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci cloned from the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella. Molecular Ecology Notes 8: 459-461.

Elias M, Hill RI, Willmott KR, Dasmahapatra KK, Brower AVZ, Mallet J, Jiggins CD (2007) Limited performance of DNA barcoding in a diverse community of tropical butterflies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274: 2881-2889. supplementary material

Dasmahapatra KK, Chung J, Silva-Vasquez A, Mallet J (2007) Genetic analysis of a wild-caught hybrid between non-sister Heliconius butterfly species. Biology Letters 3: 360-363. supplementary material

Dasmahapatra KK, Mallet J (2006) DNA barcodes: recent successes and future prospects. Heredity 97: 254- 255.

Dasmahapatra KK, Lessells CM, Mateman AC, Amos W (2004) Microsatellite loci in the European bee-eater, Merops apiaster. Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 500-502.

Madden JR, Lowe TJ, Fuller HV, Coe R, Dasmahapatra KK, Amos W, Dury F (2004) Neighbouring male spotted bowerbirds are not related, but do maraud each other. Animal Behaviour 68: 751-758.

Madden JR, Lowe TJ, Fuller HV, Coe R, Dasmahapatra KK, Amos W, Dury F (2004) Local traditions of bower decoration by spotted bowerbirds in a single population. Animal Behaviour 68: 759-765.

Blum MJ, Bermingham EP, Dasmahapatra K (2003) A molecular phylogeny of the neotropical butterfly genus Anartia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 26: 46-55.

Dasmahapatra KK, Blum MJ, Aiello A, Hackwell S, Davies N, Bermingham EP, Mallet J (2002) Inferences from a rapidly moving hybrid zone. Evolution 56: 741-753.

Corbet SA, Bee J, Dasmahapatra K, Gale S, Gorringe E, La Ferla B, Moorhouse T, Trevail A, Van Bergen Y, Vorontsova M (2001) Native or exotic? Double or single? Evaluating plants for pollinator-friendly gardens. Annals of Botany 87: 219-232.

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