Contact Information Jinzhong Fu |
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Areas of Focus
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Its Applications, Herpetology and Conservation Genetics.
Current and Recent Grad Students
- Crosby, Kate
- Ke, Bi
- Robertson, Alexander*
- Gozdzik, Agnes
*Co-advised by Jim Bogart
Education
- BSc Tianjin 1985
- MSc Chengdu 1988
- PhD Toronto 1998
Teaching
- ZOO*3300 Evolution*
- ZOO*2090 Vertebrate Structure and Function*
Co-teaching course with James P. Bogart.
Research Related Web Sites
Research Interests
Research in my lab is phylogenetics oriented. With a phylogenetic framework, we evaluate biodiversity and other important evolutionary issues.
Applications of Phylogenetic Information in Biodiversity Assessment
Phylogenetic information is crucial to assess biodiversity and prioritize our conservation efforts, and the use of molecular data in retrieving such information is one of the fastest growing areas in biology. My research program has employed Tibetan amphibians as a model system. The objectives of this program are to:
- identify lineages of high conservation priority
- determine natural population structure;
- probe the causes of diversification patterns and processes
- establish regional conservation priorities
Speciation Processes and Molecular Phylogenetics
The most fundamental unit of biodiversity is the species, and understanding the speciation process is the key for understanding biodiversity. Phylogenetic analysis creates opportunities to look at species from an historical and evolutionary perspective, and molecular data provide a capacity to examine history at multiple levels, such as genes, populations and species. My research program in this area targets the boundary between populations and species, where speciation takes place, by testing genealogical hypotheses and determining levels of gene flow among populations. I have chosen two model systems, salamanders of the genus Batrachuperus and sand lizards of the genus Phrynocephalus. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data are used to define lineages and establish relationships among them. Allozyme and microsatellite DNA data are employed to examine gene flow among lineages.
Selected Research Publications
- Wang, Y. and J. Fu. 2004. Cladogenesis and vicariance patterns in the toad-headed lizards Phrynocephalus versicolor species complex. Copeia.
- Chen, Y., H. Xiao, J. Fu, D.-W. Huang. 2004. A molecular phylogeny of Eurytomids inferred from 28S, 18S, 16S and COI genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31: 300-307.
- Fu, J., M. Hayes, Z. Liu and X. Zeng. 2003. Genetic divergence of the southeastern Chinese Hynobius salamanders. Acta Zoological Sinica 49:581-591.
- Murphy, R. W., J. Fu, A. Lathrop, J. V. Feltham, and V. Kovac. 2002. Phylogeny of the rattlesnakes (Crotalus and Sistrurus) inferred from sequences of five mitochondrial DNA genes. In: G. W. Schuett, M. Höggren, M. E. Douglas, and H. W. Greene (eds.). Biology of the Vipers. Pp. 69-92. Eagle Mountain Publishing, LC, Eagle Mountain, UT.
- Murphy, R. W., J. Fu, R. D. MacCulloch, I. S. Darevsky, and L. A. Kupriyanova. 2000. A fine line between sex and unisexuality: the phylogenetic constraints on parthenogenesis in lacertid lizards. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 130:527-549.
- Fu, J. 2000. Toward the phylogeny of family Lacertidae: Why 4708 base pairs of mtDNA sequences cannot draw the picture. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 71:203-217.
- Fu, J., R. W. Murphy, and I. S. Darevsky. 2000. Divergence of the cytochrome b gene in the Lacerta raddei complex and its parthenogenetic daughter species: Evidence for recent multiple origins. Copeia 2000:432-440.
- Fu, J. and R. W. Murphy. 1999. Discriminating and locating character covariance: An application of permutation tail probability (PTP) analyses. Systematic Biology 48: 380-395.