UGI Seminar: From speciation genomics to metagenomics: Monkeys, Museums, Microbes
Speaker: Dr Katerina Guschanski The University of Edinburgh and Uppsala University (Sweden)
UGI Seminar: From speciation genomics to metagenomics: Monkeys, Museums, Microbes
11 Jun 2025, 15:00 – 16:00
Date & Time: Wednesday, 11 June at 3pm
Where: Malet Place Engineering 1.02
Title: From speciation genomics to metagenomics: Monkeys, Museums, Microbes
Abstract: I will attempt to present a few research projects from the lab, starting with our investigations into the genomics of speciation in a group of African monkeys, the guenons. These primates are known for their colourful faces, diverse morphology, vocalization, ecology and karyotypes. Yet, despite the presence of all the classical reproductive barriers, guenon species have hybridised throughout their evolutionary history and even managed to successfully exchange Y-chromosomes. We explore the genomic mechanisms that seem to facilitate gene flow across deeply divergent lineages.
I will then present our research on preserved oral microbiomes – dental calculus – a highly abundant material present in a large diversity of mammals and readily available from museum-preserved specimens. Our past and current research asks questions about the main drivers of oral microbiome evolution, the interactions between the microbiomes and the hosts, explores how temporal metagenomics can help study co-evolutionary processes of hosts and microbiomes, e.g. in the context of demographic changes, and if preserved microbiomes can be used to understand human impact on the environment.
Dr Katerina Guschanski
The University of Edinburgh and Uppsala University (Sweden)
Katerina Guschanski holds a joint position as Senior Lecturer in Genomics at the University of Edinburgh, UK and as group leader at Uppsala University, Sweden. She studies how climatic and anthropogenic factors affect mammals and their associated microorganisms over long and short evolutionary timescales. By using historical and modern collections, she explores current and past biodiversity and provides a temporal perspective on the genomic responses of endangered animals to rapid environmental change. Her current research interest include genomics of speciation in primates, evolution of genome architecture, and the effects of human-made contaminants on host-associated microbiomes.