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Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, And Evolution Of Virulence In Toxoplasma Gondii, Elliot Keats Cullen Shwab
Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, And Evolution Of Virulence In Toxoplasma Gondii, Elliot Keats Cullen Shwab
Doctoral Dissertations
Toxoplasma gondii is among the most widespread eukaryotic pathogens known. It chronically infects approximately one third of the world’s human population and has been isolated from an extremely diverse array of globally distributed mammals and birds. Understanding the structure of the worldwide T. gondii population enhances our understanding of the factors that have shaped that structure and led to the proliferation of one of the most evolutionarily successful pathogens on Earth. Herein we collate genotypic data from global isolates, demonstrating that T. gondii possesses a unique population structure in which only a small number of genotypes dominate throughout the northern …
Evolutionary Dynamics Of Speciation And Extinction, Dawn Michelle King
Evolutionary Dynamics Of Speciation And Extinction, Dawn Michelle King
Doctoral Dissertations
Presented here is an interdisciplinary study that draws connections between the fields of physics, mathematics, and evolutionary biology. Importantly, as we move through the Anthropocene Epoch, where human-driven climate change threatens biodiversity, understanding how an evolving population responds to extinction stress could be key to saving endangered ecosystems. With a neutral, agent-based model that incorporates the main principles of Darwinian evolution, such as heritability, variability, and competition, the dynamics of speciation and extinction is investigated. The simulated organisms evolve according to the reaction-diffusion rules of the 2D directed percolation universality class. Offspring are generated according to one of three reproduction …