17 May
Dennis Hedgecock
Paxson H. Offield Professor in Fisheries Ecology
Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Biological Sciences
University of Southern California
The Pacific oyster as a model for understanding variation in recruitment success, using genomic approaches
Abstract
Recruitment success and connectivity among populations of marine animals are major concerns in biological oceanography and fisheries science. Although exogenous factors (ocean currents, temperature, and food availability) have long been studied, endogenous factors (genetic and physiological components of larval fitness) have received little attention to date. Experimental study of the Pacific oyster reveals substantial genetic variation in larval growth, survival, and resistance to starvation that is primarily attributable to a large load of deleterious mutations. Genes responsible for this variation are being mapped in experimental families and identified through comprehensive gene-expression profiling and large-scale EST sequencing. Genomic information is being synthesized into an individual-based model of larval population dynamics, which permits simulation of recruitment success and population abundance in response to environmental change. Of particular interest is the role that sweepstakes reproductive success plays in expression of mutational load and, thus, in the absolute fitness of larval populations. Genomic tools, coupled with individual-based modeling, enable comprehensive treatment of endogenous and exogenous sources of variation in recruitment success, providing a fresh perspective on an old problem.
Bio
Dennis Hedgecock received a B.S. in Biology from St. Mary's College, California, in 1970, and a Ph.D. in Genetics, from the University of California, Davis, in 1974. He was on the faculty at UC Davis until 2003, when he left for his current position at USC. Hedgecock combines expertise in genetics with an understanding of the larger issues of marine ecosystems. He has published over 100 articles on the population, quantitative, evolutionary, and conservation genetics of marine fish and shellfish, primarily Pacific oysters, white seabass, and Pacific salmon. Hedgecock was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1986, and is currently a member of several other scientific societies, including the American Genetics Association, the Genetics Society of America, the National Shellfisheries Association, and the Society for the Study of Evolution. He serves on the editorial boards of Aquaculture and the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.
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