Welcome to the Machado Lab

University of Maryland
Department of Biology
College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences

Work in our lab is centered on understanding the processes and mechanisms that have led to the evolution of new species and to the generation of genetic diversity in two study systems: species of the Drosophila pseudoobscura group, and the fig / fig-wasp mutualism. In both systems we address common questions like: What are the roles played by hybridization and introgression during the evolution of new species? What are the consequences of those processes on genetic variation at a genomic scale? In Drosophila we are also using whole-genome expression arrays to identify genetic changes underlying phenotypic differences between closely related species, including genetic changes involved in regulatory hybrid dysfunction. Additional studies in the fig/fig-wasp mutualism are centered on understanding the causes and consequences of incongruent cophylogenetic patterns of divergence of closely related Neotropical figs and their pollinators, studying the geographical context of species diversification in the mutualism, and studying the population genetic consequences of evolution in subdivided populations. We use a combination of genomic, population genetic, and phylogenetic approaches to address all those questions. In addition to our main work on those two systems, we are also interested on the evolution of the human parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

Work in our lab is funded by the National Science Foundation