Erin H. Penton

e-mail: epenton@nd.edu
 

B.Sc. (Honours) Molecular Biology and Genetics, June 2000, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
M.Sc. Zoology (Evolutionary Biology), December 2002, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

M.Sc. Thesis Title:
The classification and evolution of Pokey, a DNA transposon in Daphnia

Research Interests:

My research interests lie in understanding the levels, distribution and ultimately, the processes responsible for how genetic variation is partitioned within species in nature. Our planet’s biodiversity is literally disappearing right before our eyes. Current efforts to preserve biodiversity critically depend on first accurately documenting its undescribed levels and distribution. Recent genetic studies have found widespread and slightly variable taxa to be sources of hidden diversity, comprised of numerous morphologically cryptic, yet genetically distinct lineages. Indeed, if further studies establish the commonality of these results, the implications for current estimates of global diversity could be immense! The Neotropics are home to some of the highest levels of diversity in the world and studies documenting species richness in the Neotropics are of fundamental importance. Efforts aimed at preserving diversity need also to gauge where it is found by associating geography with genetic variation. This allows investigators to focus conservation efforts on hotspot regions of diversity, rather than on small isolated populations that, due to their low levels of variation, will be less likely to adapt and survive environmental change. For my thesis, I am using the genetic variation of both mainland and island populations of species from the Drosophila cardini group to estimate species richness and examine species’ boundaries of these wide-ranging and variable Neotropical taxa. I am also incorporating a transposable element (TE) as a molecular marker. I find these mobile pieces of DNA fascinating! TEs contribute to the mutation rate and are thus likely to play a role in evolution. Silent TEs are often mobilized within genomes precisely during times of stress, as when a population experiences ecological adaptation to novel environments. I am particularly interested in ascertaining if a sudden burst of TE mobilization occurs within the genomes of host D. cardini species following their colonization of new island habitats from mainland progenitor populations.
 

Publications:

Penton, E.H., B.W. Sullender, and T.J. Crease. 2002. Pokey, a new DNA transposon in Daphnia (Cladocera: Crustacea). Journal of Molecular Evolution 55:664-673.

Penton, E.H., P.D.N. Hebert, and T.J. Crease. 2004. Mitochondrial DNA variation in North American populations of Daphnia obtusa: continentalism or cryptic endemism? Molecular Ecology 13:97-107.

Penton, E.H., and T.J. Crease. 2004. Evolution of the transposable element Pokey in the ribosomal DNA of species in the subgenus Daphnia (Crustacea: Cladocera). Molecular Biology and Evolution 21:1727-1739.

Hebert, P.D.N., E.H. Penton, J.M. Burns, D.H. Janzen, and W. Hallwachs. 2004. Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the neotropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 101:14812-14817.

Manuscripts in preparation:

Penton, E.H., and T.J. Crease. 2004. Comparison of complete Pokey transposons among species of the subgenus Daphnia (in prep).
 

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