Members
Members
Head of Lab
Dr Eamonn Mallon
Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology
+44 (0) 116 252 3488
ebm3@le.ac.uk
Lab members
Zoe Lonsdale
BBSRC PhD student
Project: Genomic imprinting in the bumblebee
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
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
Zoe Lonsdale
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.