Daphne Jackson Fellowship

Tamsin Majerus has been awarded a Daphne Jackson Fellowship to carry out research on the Comparative genomics of colour-pattern variation in the two-spot and ten-spot ladybirds, Adalia bipunctata and Adalia decempunctata. This is a 2 year, half-time fellowship, funded jointly by NERC and The University of Nottingham. Ladybird colour-patterns are known to contribute to their survival and reproductive success. The project will use Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD)-sequencing and linkage mapping, to examine the genetics of the melanic/non-melanic colour-pattern polymorphism in these congeneric species of ladybird, identifying whether the same genetic regions and changes are involved in both. The RAD-sequencing costs are funded by an additional NERC NBAF award to Tamsin and her collaborator Dr Penny Haddrill (Edinburgh). Combined with the forthcoming genome sequence of A. bipunctata which is being produced with collaborators at the University of Edinburgh, this will be a powerful approach for linking genotype to phenotype, and for investigating wider patterns of molecular evolution in these species.