Comparative genomics & trait evolution

Genome characterization and comparative genomics provide insights not only into the genetic makeup of organismal traits but also decipher the patterns of trait evolution across studied taxa. With the help of high-throughput genome sequencing data, I, currently, characterize the genome of a beetle species, both its structure and function. The project aims to delineate the genomic regions relevant to the species’ evolutionary history and its ecological interactions in diverse climatic conditions.

Host-Wolbachia interaction

A small founding population is observed when a handful of interbreeding individuals gets dispersed/transported from the parent population and becomes the founding members in establishing a new isolated population.

Evolution in bottleneck population

The fate of the bottleneck population is a paradox. On one hand, demographic bottleneck turns the resulting population vulnerable to extinction, while on the other hand, such vulnerability appears context-dependent, based on species natural history and contemporary environmental stressors. Using high-throughput genomic scan under the framework of comparative genomics, I investigate the populations of a beetle species, Zygogramma bicolorata, in India to understand the role of habitat heterogeneity and local environmental stressors in modulating the population-level genomic variability.