
Dassanayake Lab
COMPARATIVE
FUNCTIONAL
EVOLUTIONARY
GENOMICS

FOCUS 2: Discover Signatures of Niche Adaptation Through Comparative Genomics

Lake Tuz salt flats, Central Anatolia, Turkey
Image by Sun Hee Yeon

Image by Gunsu Inan
Images by Hyewon Hong

Copy number variation in putative Li transporters

AT SP
S. parvula adapted to high lithium in Lake Tuz soils?
AT SP
Interpreting recently assembled genomes is biologically and computationally challenging. If new gene models have high sequence similarity with previously identified genes in model species, we assume similar functions for the new gene models until functional studies replace the current annotations. Through comparative genomics we try to identify the similarities and differences in the novel genomes compared to model genomes with the prospet that the differences in the genome level hold the key to different adaptations observed at the phenome level of the non-model species in Focus 3.


Schrenkiella parvula with mature siliques growing in its native habitat, Central Turkey
Image by Ehmet Yaprak
RNA-seq



Schrenkiella parvula roots
Image by Thu Nguyen