Professor;
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1993
Graduate faculty status

Research and Professional Interests:

Organisms are enormously genetically diverse. Even traits subject to strong natural selection, such as fertility, longevity, and reproductive behavior, can vary greatly among individuals even within a single population, and much of this variation can be heritable. We strive to understand why so much genetic variation persists for traits under strong selection and also to understand the consequences of this diversity for individuals, species, and communities. Members of the lab are studying the genetic, genomic, and evolutionary determinants of life span; the ecological genetics of sexual selection and mate choice; and genetic and nongenetic modifiers of aggressive behavior. We use many different experimental organisms, including fruit flies, guppies, and mosquito fish, and a diversity of techniques, including quantitative genetics and genomics, molecular kinship analysis, and field experiments.

Remolina, S.C. Chang, P.L., Leips, J., Nuzhdin, S.V., and K.A. Hughes. 2012. Genomic basis of aging and life-history evolution in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 66: 3390-3403.

Felix, T.M., Hughes, K.A. Stone, E.A., Drnevich, J.M., and J. Leips. 2012. Age-specific variation in immune response in Drosophila melanogaster has a genetic basis. Genetics 191: 989-1002.

Fraser, B.A., Weadick, C.J., Janowitz, I., Rodd, F.H, and K.A. Hughes 2011. Sequencing and characterization of the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) transcriptome. BMC Genomics 12:202 (14 pages).

Hughes, K.A. 2010. Mutation and the evolution of ageing: from biometrics to systems genetics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London: 365:1273-1279.

Johnson, A. M., G. Chappel, A.C. Price, F.H. Rodd, R. Olendorf and K. A. Hughes. 2010. Inbreeding depression and inbreeding avoidance in a natural population of guppies. Poecilia reticulata. Ethology: 116:448-457.

Hampton, K. J., K. A. Hughes, and A. E. Houde. 2009. The allure of the distinctive: reduced sexual responsiveness of female guppies to ‘redundant’ male colour patterns. Ethology 115:475-481.

Bushey, D., K. A. Hughes, G. Tononi, and C. Cirelli. 2010. Sleep, aging, and lifespan in Drosophila. BMC Neuroscience 11:56.

Drnevich, J., M. Murray, E. Ruedi, S. Rodriguez-Zas, and K. A. Hughes. 2004. Quantitative evolutionary genomics: differential gene expression and male reproductive success in Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 271:2267-2273.

Olendorf, R., F. H. Rodd, D. Punzalan, A. E. Houde, C. Hurt, D. N. Reznick, and K. A. Hughes. 2006. Frequency-dependent survival in natural guppy populations. Nature 441:633-636.

Reynolds, Lauren A

Graduate Students:

Janowitz, Ilana
Kraft, Brittany
Ren, Yingxue

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