As species diverge, specific molecular changes drive phenotypic changes and, ultimately, adaptations. Understanding the mechanisms of the evolution of new functionality in genomes and how this correlates with the phenotypic divergence of species is the central theme of my research group. These mechanisms include horizontal transfer, gene duplication, sequence divergence, gene expression divergence, mRNA splicing pattern divergence, and a host of others. Detecting and collating these different events from a phylogenetic perspective is an ongoing process involving methods development, both at the DNA and protein sequence levels using model-based approaches, at protein structural levels, and systems network levels.

More information about the Liberles Laboratory is available at sites.temple.edu/liberles.