Members

Head of Lab

Dr Eamonn Mallon

Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology

+44 (0) 116 252 3488
ebm3@le.ac.uk

Eamonn's staff page

Lab members

Zoe Lonsdale

BBSRC PhD student

Project: Genomic imprinting in the bumblebee

Zoe's project page

Pshtiwan Bebane

PhD student

Project: Bumblebees as a biosensor

Hollie Marshall

NERC PhD student

Project: Parent of origin methylation in a social insect

Dr. Mirko Pegoraro

NERC funded PDRA

Project: Bumblebee worker reproduction as an independent test of Haig's kinship theory for the evolution of genomic imprinting

Mirko's staff page

Alun Jones

BBSRC PhD student

Project: Bumblebee epigenetics

Lisa Bedder

Departmental technician

Project: Bumblebee breeding

Dave Booth

MIBTP placement student

Project: RNA-seq analysis of neonicotinoid exposure

Dr. Jacob Holland

Visitor

Lady Davis Postdoctoral Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)

Alumni

• Mark Harrison
• Harindra Amarasinghe
• Cris Clayton
• Akram Alghamdi
• Carolyn Riddell
• Haniza Modh Zain

BBSRC PhD student

Project: Epigenetic markers and gene expression patterns of genomic imprinting in the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris

Genomic imprinting is a phenomenon whereby the expression status of an allele is determined by from which parent it was inherited. Through my PhD studies I use whole genome sequencing data to search for patterns of imprinting in the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris.

I use a combination of RNA-sequencing and bisulphite sequencing to determine gene expression patterns and potential associated epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. DNA methylation, alternative splicing). This will lead to a better understanding of the genetics of eusocial insects and the evolutionary theory elucidating why imprinting first evolved.

Moreover, a good understanding of imprinting is important for crop breeding, developmental syndromes such as Prader-Willi and Angelman, and some human cancers.