The Group of Lu Yingqin: Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics

Members:

Yingqing Lu (PhD, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison; Postdoc, Duke University),

Xiaomei LI (PhD, ),

Jinxia Huang (PhD, Peking University )

Mingxun Ren (PhD, Beijing Normal University)

Xiaojuan Wang.

The research group is headed by Dr. Yingqing Lu, whose research experience spans field, laboratory, and modeling aspects of modern evolutionary biology of plants. The ultimate goal of our research is to understand how environmental changes are correlated with genomic variations, particularly the forces and chanisms involved in genomic and organismal evolution. We are looking at plant reproductive systems (e.g. self-incompatibility systems) at ecological and genomic levels to evaluate the impacts of the systems on the genetic polymorphism and plant dispersal of a species as well as on taxon differentiation.

Our inquiries also include reproduction-related biochemical pathways. Since the metabolic pathway (e.g. anthocyanin pathway) leading to a formation of floral morphology may provide a framework for exploring trait evolution and for understanding the transformation between genotype and phenotype, it is possible to use them as experimental systems to understand how selective pressure works at different levels.

On the application side of our research, we focus on the invading species in China, particularly their ecological genetics. The increasing global dispersal of biological species has becoming an issue for local ecosystems. More information will be posted in the near future. In all aspects of our research, we seek integrative methods to solve significant questions in biological (particularly plant) evolution.

Our research team is expanding. Dedicated and interested researchers are encouraged to contact us for faculty research positions, postdoc, and other work opportunity in our laboratory.

At all time, we welcome collaborations with like-minded researchers in various forms, frommaterial sharing to conducting extensive research. In favor of interdisciplinary studies, we're particularly interested in collaboratingwith researchers in computer science, biotechnology,and other related fields.