Research Interests Functional diversification of antifreeze proteins Evolution of enamelin Adaptive Evolution of the Human Genome curriculum vitae

The characterization of regions of the human genome that have been subject to natural selection facilitates our understanding of recent human evolutionary history. Genes under positive selection in the human genome can reliably be identified using genome-wide scans. However, genome-wide scans inherently have false positives and candidate selection genes must be verified using standard sequencing techniques. My research involves identifying candidate selection genes by applying a variety of statistical methods public and private databases. Several statistical tests exist to identify deviations from evolutionary neutrality; these tests range in the time-scale at which they are able to detect selective events, the parameters they test (site frequency spectrum or dN/dS substitution rates) and the data needed to execute the test. Using these statistical tests, I have begun to understand the adaptive landscape of the human genome and identify genes that show unusual patterns of local adaptation. In order to verify signatures of selection based on genome-wide scans, I am sequencing several of the candidate selection genes. Sequencing involves obtaining both polymorphism and divergence data for use in statistical tests of selective neutrality.

Manuscripts

Kelley, J.L. and W. Swanson. (2007) Adaptive evolution of enamelin in primates and human population specific adaptation. In Review.

Kelley, J.L., Madeoy, J., Calhoun, J., Swanson, W. and J. Akey. (2006) Genomic signatures of positive selection in humans and the limits of outlier approaches. Genome Research. 16(8):980-9.

Thomas, J., Kelley, J.L., Roberston, H., Ly, K., and W. Swanson. (2005) Adaptive evolution in the SRZ chemoreceptor families of C. elegans and C. briggsae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102(12): 4476 - 4481.

Kelley, J.L., Stinchcombe, J.R., Weinig, C. and J. Schmitt. (2005) Soft and hard selection on plant defense traits in Arabidopsis thaliana. Evolutionary Ecology Research. 7(2): 287 - 302.