Micro and Macro Evolution of Cell Division

Cellular structures such as the nucleus, Golgi, centrioles, and spindle show remarkable diversity between species, but the mechanisms that produce these variations in cell biology are not known.  We are investigating the evolutionary and genetic processes that lead to variations in the spindle and cell division and attempting to integrate mechanistic and quantitative genetic theories of these processes. 

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Publications:

Farhadifar R, Ponciano JM, Andersen EC, Needleman DJ, Baer CF. Mutation Is a Sufficient and Robust Predictor of Genetic Variation for Mitotic Spindle Traits in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics [Internet]. 2016. Publisher's VersionAbstractPDF icon Download Paper

Farhadifar R, Baer CF, Valfort A-C, Andersen EC, Müller-Reichert T, Delattre M, Needleman DJ. Scaling, selection, and evolutionary dynamics of the mitotic spindle. Current Biology. 2015;25 :732–740.PDF icon Download Paper

Sazer S, Lynch M, Needleman D. Deciphering the Evolutionary History of Open and Closed Mitosis. Current Biology. 2014;24 :R1099–R1103.PDF icon Download Paper