07/01/2025
By Irma Silva

The Kennedy College of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, invites you to attend a Ph.D. Proposal Defense in Applied Biology by Michael Olufemi entitled " Epigenetic Regulation and the Evolutionary Trajectories of Gene Duplicates in Natural Stickleback Populations.”

Candidate: Michael Olufemi
Degree: Doctoral
Date: Monday, July 14
Time: 9 a.m. – noon
Location: Olsen Hall 503

Committee Members:

  • Frederic Chain (Advisor), Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Jessica Garb (Chair), Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Rachel Melamed, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Philine Feulner, Group Leader, Aquatic Ecology Department, Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Title: Epigenetic Regulation and the Evolutionary Trajectories of Gene Duplicates in Natural Stickleback Populations

Brief Abstract:
Gene duplication is a key source of evolutionary innovation, but most duplicates are lost due to dosage sensitivity and regulatory imbalance. Emerging evidence suggests that DNA methylation may play a critical role in modulating the early fate of gene duplicates by repressing overexpression and buffering harmful dosage effects. Yet, the dynamics of this epigenetic regulation during the polymorphic phase of gene copy number variation (GCNV) remain poorly understood in natural populations. This project investigates how DNA methylation shapes the regulatory and evolutionary trajectories of GCNVs in threespine stickleback, a species with repeated ecological divergence. Using long-read genome assemblies, allele-aware methylome profiling, and tissue-specific transcriptomics, the research will test whether methylation facilitates the persistence, repression, or adaptive expression of duplicated genes. Results will provide new insights into how epigenetic mechanisms interact with natural selection to influence gene duplicate retention and divergence.