Phone: 919-668-4580

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCENT)

http://www.duke.edu/~einat

Research Interests: numt evolution

I am interested in the dynamic and mechanism of mitochondrial DNA transposition into the nucleus. Numts (nuclear DNA sequences of mitochondrial origin) have been recognized in different quantities in variety of species. Numts reported to play a rule in the repair of double-strand breaks and it was suggested that this is the cause for their ongoing colonization in different genomes. Using comparative evolutionary approach I try to understand why numts differ in species and what promotes their transposition.

Einat Covo