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Research in my lab focuses on understanding the genetic basis for phenotypic change in primate evolution, with an emphasis on recent evolution in humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. There are a large number of pronounced anatomical, behavioral, and physiological differences between these very closely related species. My lab aims to uncover what changes at what genes have been responsible for these differences, with a special emphasis on genes and gene families related to reproductive physiology.
A second area of research in my lab examines several aspects of genome evolution. This includes an ongoing study of the patterns of nuclear insertions of mitochondria DNA (numts) in hominoid primates. We are also interested in the evolution of gene duplications, and their relevance for novel phenotypic adaptation.
Representative Publications:
1. Carnahan SJ and Jensen-Seaman MI (2008) Hominoid seminal protein evolution and ancestral mating behavior. American Journal of Primatology 70:939-948.
2. Jensen-Seaman MI, Hooper-Boyd KA (2008) Molecular Clocks: Determining the Age of the Human-Chimpanzee Divergence. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (and reprinted in Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution).
3. Jensen-Seaman MI, Furey TS, Payseur BA, Lu Y, Roskin KM, Chen C-F, Thomas MA, Haussler D, and Jacob HJ (2004) Comparative recombination rates in the rat, mouse, and human genomes. Genome Research 14:780-785.
4. Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium [229 authors] (2004) Genome sequence of the Brown Norway rat yields insights into mammalian evolution. Nature 428:493-521.
5. Jensen-Seaman MI , Sarmiento EE, Deinard AS, and Kidd KK (2004) Nuclear integrations of mitochondrial DNA in gorillas. American Journal of Primatology 63:139-147.
6. Yu N, Jensen-Seaman MI, Chemnick L, Ryder O, and Li W-H (2004) Nucleotide diversity in gorillas. Genetics 166:1375-1383.
7. Jensen-Seaman MI and Li W-H (2003) Evolution of the hominoid semenogelin genes, the major proteins of ejaculated semen. Journal of Molecular Evolution 57:261-270.
8. Yu N, Jensen-Seaman MI, Chemnick L, Kidd JR, Deinard AS, Ryder O, Kidd KK, and Li W-H (2003) Low nucleotide diversity in chimpanzees and bonobos. Genetics 164:1511-1518.
9. Jensen-Seaman MI and Kidd KK (2001) Mitochondrial DNA variation and biogeography of eastern gorillas. Molecular Ecology 10:2241-2247.
10. Jensen-Seaman MI, Deinard AS, and Kidd KK (2001) Modern African ape populations as genetic and demographic models of the last common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Journal of Heredity 92:475-480.
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Office
Phone: 412.396.4597
Email: seamanm@duq.edu
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