20 Feb Phylogeography and DNA barcoding Gammarus species
With Jenny Rock, Nia Whitely, and collaborators I have investigated the phylogeography and ecological adaptation to different water temperature environments in Gammarus duebeni . This species shows divergence between freshwater and marine forms (subspecies) and its enormous lattitudinal range has interesting applications from the perspecitive of muscle protein adaptation to different temperature regimes. DNA barcodes are a powerful tool for investigating Gammarid diversity. The images are our cover of Systematics and Biodiversity, and a beautiful G. roeselii photo (which was one of our study species). See Gammarus papers.
Whiteley, N.M., S.P.S. Rastrick, D.H. Lunt, J. Rock (2011, in press) Latitudinal variations in the physiology of marine gammarid amphipods J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2011.02.027
Costa FO, Henzler CM, Lunt DH, Whiteley NM, Rock J (2009) SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY 7(4):365-379 PDF DOI:10.1017/S1477200009990120
Probing marine Gammarus (Amphipoda) taxonomy with DNA barcodes
Rock J, J.L. Magnay, S. Beech, A.J. El Haj, G. Goldspink, D.H. Lunt, N.M. Whiteley (2009) Gene 437:60-70. PDF doi:10.1016/j.gene.2009.02.008
Linking functional molecular variation with environmental gradients: Myosin gene diversity in a crustacean broadly distributed across variable thermal environments.
Rock, J., J. Ironside, T. Potter, N. M. Whiteley, and D. H. Lunt (2007) Heredity 99:102-111. PDF
Phylogeography and environmental diversification of a highly adaptable marine amphipod, Gammarus duebeni