We would like to invite you to a joint RAM-Evolution seminar by Dr. Yi-Jyun Luo, the OIST Graduate and now a Group Leader at Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

Research Seminar | OIST Researcher Appreciation Month 2024

Exploring animal evolution through chromosome-level comparative genomics

Yi-Jyun Luo

Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Abstract

Advances in sequencing technologies have granted us unprecedented access to chromosome-level genomes, offering new opportunities to investigate animal evolution. But how can we utilize this data to answer key evolutionary questions? In this seminar, I will share recent progress from our lab, where we use these genomic resources to explore animal evolution. We will begin with bryozoans, where chromosome fusion and fission processes have led to the partitioning of genes from their Hox clusters onto multiple chromosomes. This provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history of Hox genes and highlights their close relationship with brachiopods. Next, in annelids such as earthworms and leeches, we will examine how highly rearranged genomes offer fresh perspectives on genome evolution within bilaterians. We will also discuss the conserved role of key signaling pathways in brachiopods, shedding light on body patterning mechanisms across different animal groups. Finally, I will present findings from coral genomics that clarify the relationship between corallimorpharians and stony corals, deepening our understanding of coral calcification. This seminar will demonstrate how chromosome-level genomics can provide critical insights into complex evolutionary processes and help resolve long-standing questions in animal phylogeny. I hope to offer a thoughtful exploration of how these tools are advancing our understanding of the animal tree of life.

Bio: I joined OIST in 2012 as part of the inaugural class and graduated in 2017 from the Marine Genomics Unit under the supervision of Prof. Nori Satoh, focusing on animal genome evolution. I was awarded the JSPS DC1 fellowship in my third year and completed postdoctoral training at Harvard and Oxford under two other postdoctoral fellowships. I now lead a lab at Academia Sinica in my home country, Taiwan.