Mohamed A. Noor, Professor of Biology

Contact Info:

Office Location:	French Family Science Center 4214
Office Phone:	919-613-8156
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.biology.duke.edu/noorlab/Noorlab.html

Teaching (Spring 2012):

• BIOLOGY 102L.001, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION Synopsis

  Bryan Center GRIFFITH F, MWF 08:30 AM-09:45 AM

Education:

PhD	University of Chicago	1996
BS	College of William and Mary	1992

Specialties:

Evolution
Genetics
Genomics

Research Interests: Speciation and evolutionary genetics, recombination

One of the greatest unsolved questions in biology is how continuous processes of evolutionary change produce the discontinuous groups known as species. My research has focused on understanding the processes that cause the evolution of barriers to gene exchange between diverging species, particularly hybrid sterility and species mating discrimination. My approaches are primarily classical or molecular genetic using Drosophila species as model organisms. Using these approaches, we have dissected the genetic basis of these barriers to gene exchange using molecular markers and QTL mapping methodologies or gene expression approaches. The recent availability of multiple whole-genome sequences (both publicly and those we have obtained ourselves) has dramatically enhanced the scope of progress we can make. In addition to questions in speciation, we have recently been studying the effects of fine-scale recombination heterogeneity on various evolutionary parameters including nucleotide diversity, divergence, and codon bias. See my lab web page for more information.

Keywords:

evolution • speciation • genetics • genomics • Drosophila

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

• Karen E O'Connell  
• Caitlin Smukowski  
• Caitlin Smukowski  
• Caitlin Smukowski  
• Shannon R. McDermott  

Postdocs Mentored

• Robin Varney (October, 2009 - August, 2011)  
• Suzanne McGaugh (July, 2009 - present)  
• Katherine Teeter (November 1, 2005 - July 31, 2006)  
• Nikolai Kandul (October 1, 2005 - July 31, 2008)  
• Amanda Moehring (October 1, 2004 - June 30, 2008)  
• Pawel Michalak (April, 2002 - August, 2003)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. CS Smukowski, MAF Noor, Recombination rate variation in closely related species., Heredity, vol. 107 no. 6 (December, 2011), pp. 496-508, ISSN 1365-2540 [doi]  [abs]
2. LS Stevison, KB Hoehn, MAF Noor, Effects of inversions on within- and between-species recombination and divergence., Genome Biology and Evolution, vol. 3 (August, 2011), pp. 830-841, ISSN 1759-6653 [doi]  [abs]
3. SR McDermott, MAF Noor, Genetics of hybrid male sterility among strains and species in the Drosophila pseudoobscura species group., Evolution, vol. 65 no. 7 (July, 2011), pp. 1969-78, ISSN 1558-5646 [doi]  [abs]
4. LS Stevison, MAF Noor, Genetic and Evolutionary Correlates of Fine-Scale Recombination Rate Variation in Drosophila persimilis., Journal of molecular evolution, vol. 71 no. 5-6 (December, 2010), pp. 332-345, ISSN 1432-1432 [doi]  [abs]
5. AM Larracuente, MAF Noor, AG Clark, Translocation of Y-linked genes to the dot chromosome in Drosophila pseudoobscura., Molecular biology and evolution, vol. 27 no. 7 (July, 2010), pp. 1612-20, ISSN 1537-1719 [doi]  [abs]