GELIFES Seminars - Jonna Kulmuni

Jonna Kulmuni (University of Amsterdam)

Semipermeable species boundaries and adaptive potential of hybridization

In broad terms I am interested how different evolutionary processes shape genes and genomes, generate diversity and lead to adaptation and speciation. Projects in my group aim at understanding the process of speciation through space and time, how hybrid genomes evolve and are shaped by natural selection and how selection acts on natural populations. My main study system is the mound building Formica wood ants, which have recently diverged and still hybridize extensively.

Biosketch:
I have been using wood ants as a model for evolutionary questions since my master’s project and now we utilize long-term genomic data on these natural populations to understand outcomes of hybridization and adaptive potential of hybridization. Having spent time in the University of Oulu, Sheffield and Helsinki, I now work at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Here I incorporate the spider mites and experimental evolution into our groups research programme. The two haplodiploid systems provide complementary assets to study same themes.