Next week we will be discussing two papers on epistasis and quantitative variation in Drosophila:

Wen et al. (2012) Epistasis dominates the genetic architecture of Drosophila quantitative traits. PNAS 109 (39) 15553-15559.

Ober et al. (2012) Using Whole-Genome Sequence Data to Predict Quantitative Trait Phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genet 8(5): e1002685.

Next week we’ll be reading the following papers about phenotypic plasticity and ecological interactions:

Fordyce JA (2006) The evolutionary consequences of ecological interactions mediated through phenotypic plasticity. J Exp Biol 209:2377–2383 

P.G. Kraft, C.E. Franklin, M.W. Blows(2006) Predator induced phenotypic plasticity in tadpoles: extension or innovation? J Exp Biol 19:450–458

This semester journal club will first focus on phenotypic plasticity. We will be reading the following papers next week:
Bradshaw A.D. 1965. Evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity in plants. Adv. Genet.13: 115-155.
Pigliucci M. 2005. Evolution of phenotypic plasticity: where are we going now? Trends in Ecology & Evolution 20: 481-486.
(Optional: if you want more background read Scheiner S.M. 1993. Genetics and evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 24: 35-68)

Next week, we will continue our discussion in genetics of speciation using genomic methods. The three papers we are going to discuss are listed as follows:

Turner, T.L., Hahn, M.W. & Nuzhdin, S.V. 2005. Genomic Islands of Speciation in Anopheles gambiae. PLoS Biol 3, e285. [doi link]

Payseur, B. 2010. The state of the field: Using differential introgression in hybrid zones to identify genomic regions involved in speciation. Molecular Ecology Resources. [doi link]

Geraldes, A., P. Basset, K. L. Smith, and M. W. Nachman. 2011. Higher differentiation among subspecies of the house mouse (Mus musculus) in genomic regions with low recombination. Molecular Ecology 20:4722–4736. [doi link]

Here are the readings for next Tuesday’s journal club discussion on sexual selection and speciation:
West-Eberhard, M. J. 1983. Sexual selection, social competition, and speciation. The Quarterly Review of Biology 58:155–183. [doi link]

Kirkpatrick, M., and M. J. Ryan. 1991. The evolution of mating preferences and the paradox of the lek. Nature 350:33-38. [doi link]

Boughman, J. W. 2001. Divergent sexual selection enhances reproductive isolation in sticklebacks. Nature 411:944–948. [doi link]

Barraclough TG, Harvey PH, Nee S. 1995. Sexual selection and taxonomic diversity in passerine birds. Proc. R. Soc. London B Biol. Sci. 259:211–15. [doi link]