John Kelly
Professor
Plant Population; Biology and Genetics
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Phone: (785) 864-3706
Fax: (785) 864-5431
Information on the Kelly Lab
Area of Interest and Research
Research Program
- Evolutionary quantitative genetics
- Molecular population genetics
- Evolution in viruses and other pathogens
- Kin selection
Research Interests
It is widely believed that evolutionary processes are too slow to allow direct measurement of genetic changes. For this reason, most applications of evolutionary theory are historical in nature. A theory is tested by comparing its predictions to extant patterns of variation in nature, either within or across taxa. However, when evolutionary changes occur at a rapid pace, it is possible to directly test the dynamical predictions of evolutionary models. There are now many documented examples of rapidly evolving biological systems. One of our primary objectives is to construct and test models that predict observable changes in the genetic composition of populations. These “dynamical studies” augment historical analyses and directly address a wide range of fundamental questions in evolutionary biology.
At present, our laboratory is mainly concerned with quantitative trait evolution in the wildflower Mimulus guttatus (yellow monkeyflower). Given that most interesting traits are complex (influenced by both genes and the environment), quantitative genetics provides a natural framework for predicting trait evolution. We use a mixture of classical techniques (e.g. controlled crosses, inbreeding, and artificial selection), along with modern molecular approaches (e.g. QTL mapping). Principle questions are: (1) How do mutation, migration, genetic drift and natural selection interact to maintain genetic variation in nature? (2) What is the genetic architecture of variation in ecologically important traits such as flower size and pollen viability? (3) How does non-random mating, particularly the tendency of many plant species to self-fertilize, affect evolutionary change? and (4) Do genetic 'complexities' such as pleiotropy and epistasis qualitatively alter the evolutionary process?
A secondary interest in our laboratory is gene sequence evolution, with a particular focus on viral pathogens. Many viral pathogens, including the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), undergo extensive genetic evolution within a single host. Elucidating the causes and consequences of these genetic changes for disease transmission and pathogenesis is a major challenge for both evolutionary biology and epidemiology.
Representative Publications
Kelly, J.K. and Mojica, J.P. 2011. Interactions among flower size QTLs of Mimulus guttatus are abundant but highly variable in nature. Genetics, 189, 1461–1471.
Scoville, Alison G., Young Wha Lee, John H. Willis, and John K. Kelly. 2011. Explaining the heritability of an ecologically significant trait in terms of individual QTLs. Biology letters 7: 896–898.
Holeski, Liza M., Ronnette Chase-Alone, and John K. Kelly. 2010. The genetics of phenotypic plasticity and ontogenetic variation in a plant defense: Trichome production in Mimulus guttatus. Am. Nat. 175:391-400.
Crawford, D. J., Jenny K. Archibald, John K. Kelly, Mark E. Mort, and Arnoldo Santos-Guerra. 2010. Mixed mating system in obligately outcrossing Tolpis (Asteraceaeae) in the Canary Islands. Plant Species Biology 25:114–119.
Mojica, J.P. and J.K. Kelly. 2010. Viability selection prior to trait expression is an essential component of natural selection. Proc. Roy. Soc. London Series B, 277:2945–2950.
Scoville, Alison, Young Wha Lee, John H. Willis, and John K. Kelly. 2009. The contribution of chromosomal polymorphisms to the G-matrix of Mimulus guttatus. New Phytologist 183: 803–815.
Kelly, J. K. 2009. Connecting QTLs to the G-Matrix of evolutionary quantitative genetics. Evolution 63(4): 813–825.
Storz, J.F. and J.K. Kelly. 2008. Effects of Geographically Varying Selection on Nucleotide Diversity and Linkage Disequilibrium: Insights from Deer Mouse Globin Genes. Genetics 180: 367–379.
Williamson, S., S. M. Perry, C. D. Bustamante, M. E. Orive, M. N. Stearns, and J. K. Kelly. 2005. A statistical characterization of consistent patterns of human immunodeficiency virus evolution within infected patients. Molecular Biology and Evolution 22(3):456–468.
Kelly, J. K. 2005. Epistasis in monkeyflowers. Genetics 171:1917–1931.
Kelly, J. K. 2003. Deleterious mutations and the genetic variance of male fitness components in Mimulus guttatus. Genetics 164:1071–1085.
Kelly, J. K, S. Williamson, M. E. Orive, M. Smith, and R. D. Holt. 2003. Linking dynamical and population genetic models of persistent viral infection. American Naturalist 162:14–28.
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