Speciation in ants: Unraveling the genetic, epigenetic and molecular basis of speciation using wood ants

ended

The enormous amount of diversity that surrounds us raises one of the key questions in evolutionary biology: How do new species originate? Speciation depends on the evolution of reproductive isolation but, with few exceptions, the genes underlying reproductive isolation and their modes of action are unknown. The novelty of this project lies in testing if, in addition to mutations in genes, epigenetics and gene expression are mechanisms that contribute to the process of speciation. For these aims I will use wood ants and their hybrids combining large-scale data sets on genomes, gene expression and genome-wide methylation. These approaches will be complemented with protein modeling of candidate genes resulting in a multidisciplinary project. Further aims are to develop an outreach programme on evolution for high schools and in collaboration with the Finnish Environment Institute to investigate the role of hybrids in forest ecosystems. Together these objectives yield a project that has high scientific standing and societal importance.