Current Research Projects
Reproductive plasticity
Individuals that respond to their social and sexual environments gain substantial fitness benefits. We are researching the underlying mechanisms involved, in both sexes. Our recent research shows that females alter the number and arrangement of eggs they lay according to their social environment. However, little is known about why they do this. Using the well-characterised genetics of the fruitfly model system we are conducting hypothesis-driven tests of the significance of the expression of socio-sexual plasticity.
Functions and regulation of seminal fluid proteins
Seminal fluid proteins are far more than a simple sperm buffer. They cause key changes to female behaviour and physiology across a huge variety of animal taxa, including humans. In the fruitfly there are >300 semen proteins . They cause females to lay more eggs, to eat more (and of different types of foods), to be less sexually receptive to males, to switch on immune genes, to retain more sperm in storage, to show altered patterns of water balance and to sleep less. We investigate the functions, control and regulation of this complex and fundamentally important reproductive system.
Significance of the gut microbiota to host fitness
We investigate the effects of gut microbiota on host reproductive behaviour and fitness in fruitflies and explore these effects in terms of the evolutionary associations between hosts and their symbionts.
Sex differences in lifespan and nutritional ecology
We test the role of the social and nutritional environment in shaping sex differences in lifespan and actuarial ageing. We also study sex differences in food choice at different life stages, and the potential knock on effects across generations.
Genetic control of insect pests
In collaborative projects with colleagues at UEA, Imperial and Keele, we translate our findings from fundamental research to test and develop new genetic methods for pest insect control. Current projects include manipulating sex determination genes to develop new control strategies.