Dr Kai Zeng
School of Biosciences
Senior Lecturer
k.zeng@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 4708
+44 114 222 4708
Room B88, Alfred Denny Building
Full contact details
Dr Kai Zeng
School of Biosciences
Room B88
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
School of Biosciences
Room B88
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
-
- BSc, double major in Statistics and Computer Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China (1999)
- PhD, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China (2007)
- Visiting PhD student, University of Chicago, USA (2004–2007)
- Royal Society International Incoming Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK (2008-2009)
- Royal Society of Edinburgh/Caledonian Research Foundation Biomedical Personal Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, UK (2009-201)
- Lecturer then Senior Lecturer, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, UK (2011-present)
- Research interests
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My research is focused on population genetics. I am particularly interested in developing realistic and computationally tractable models for analyzing DNA sequence data.
The aim is to understand how fundamental evolutionary processes such as mutation, genetic drift, genetic recombination, and natural selection interact with one another, and the impact of these interactions on evolution.
- Publications
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Show: Featured publications All publications
Featured publications
Journal articles
- Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird. Nature Communications, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Methods for Estimating Demography and Detecting Between-Locus Differences in the Effective Population Size and Mutation Rate. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(2), 423-433. View this article in WRRO
- New Methods for Inferring the Distribution of Fitness Effects for INDELs and SNPs.. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(6), 1536-1546. View this article in WRRO
- Evolutionary signals of selection on cognition from the great tit genome and methylome. Nature Communications, 7. View this article in WRRO
- The joint effects of background selection and genetic recombination on local gene genealogies.. Genetics, 189(1), 251-266.
- Reduced efficacy of natural selection on codon usage bias in selfing Arabidopsis and Capsella species. Genome Biology and Evolution, 3, 868-880.
- Patterns of Codon Usage Bias in Silene latifolia. MOL BIOL EVOL, 28(1), 771-780.
- The effects of demography and linkage on the estimation of selection and mutation parameters.. Genetics, 186(4), 1411-1424.
- A simple multiallele model and its application to identifying preferred-unpreferred codons using polymorphism data.. Mol Biol Evol, 27(6), 1327-1337.
- Forces that influence the evolution of codon bias.. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 365(1544), 1203-1212.
- Studying patterns of recent evolution at synonymous sites and intronic sites in Drosophila melanogaster.. J Mol Evol, 70(1), 116-128.
- Estimating selection intensity on synonymous codon usage in a nonequilibrium population.. Genetics, 183(2), 651-23SI.
All publications
Journal articles
- Studying models of balancing selection using phase-type theory. Genetics.
- A study of faster-Z evolution in the great tit (Parus major). Genome Biology and Evolution. View this article in WRRO
- Population-specific selection on standing variation generated by lateral gene transfers in a grass. Current Biology, 29. View this article in WRRO
- The Impact of Natural Selection on Short Insertion and Deletion Variation in the Great Tit Genome. Genome Biology and Evolution, 11(6), 1514-1524. View this article in WRRO
- Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird. Nature Communications, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Methods for Estimating Demography and Detecting Between-Locus Differences in the Effective Population Size and Mutation Rate. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(2), 423-433. View this article in WRRO
- New Methods for Inferring the Distribution of Fitness Effects for INDELs and SNPs.. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35(6), 1536-1546. View this article in WRRO
- Determinants of the Efficacy of Natural Selection on Coding and Noncoding Variability in Two Passerine Species. Genome Biology and Evolution, 9(11), 2987-3007. View this article in WRRO
- Speciation over the edge: gene flow among non-human primate species across a formidable biogeographic barrier. Royal Society Open Science, 4. View this article in WRRO
- Variation in the Intensity of Selection on Codon Bias over Time Causes Contrasting Patterns of Base Composition Evolution in Drosophila. Genome Biology and Evolution, 9(1), 102-123. View this article in WRRO
- Clines with partial panmixia across a geographical barrier in an environmental pocket. Theoretical Population Biology, 110, 1-11. View this article in WRRO
- Evolutionary signals of selection on cognition from the great tit genome and methylome. Nature Communications, 7. View this article in WRRO
- The Effects of Background and Interference Selection on Patterns of Genetic Variation in Subdivided Populations. Genetics, 201(4), 1539-1554. View this article in WRRO
- A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff. Nature Genetics, 48(1), 79-83. View this article in WRRO
- The effects of purifying selection on patterns of genetic differentiation between Drosophila melanogaster populations. Heredity, 114(2), 163-174. View this article in WRRO
- Highly Variable Recombinational Landscape Modulates Efficacy of Natural Selection in Birds. Genome Biology and Evolution, 6(8), 2061-2075. View this article in WRRO
- Reduced representation genome sequencing suggests low diversity on the sex chromosomes of tonkean macaque monkeys.. Mol Biol Evol, 31(9), 2425-2440.
- Clines with complete dominance and partial panmixia in an unbounded unidimensional habitat.. Theor Popul Biol, 93, 63-74.
- Codon usage bias and effective population sizes on the X chromosome versus the autosomes in Drosophila melanogaster.. Mol Biol Evol, 30(4), 811-823. View this article in WRRO
- A coalescent model of background selection with recombination, demography and variation in selection coefficients.. Heredity (Edinb), 110(4), 363-371.
- Incompatibility and Competitive Exclusion of Genomic Segments between Sibling Drosophila Species. PLOS GENETICS, 8(6). View this article in WRRO
- Selection on codon usage and base composition in Drosophila americana.. Biol Lett, 8(1), 82-85.
- The joint effects of background selection and genetic recombination on local gene genealogies.. Genetics, 189(1), 251-266.
- Determinants of synonymous and nonsynonymous variability in three species of Drosophila.. Mol Biol Evol, 28(5), 1731-1743.
- Reduced efficacy of natural selection on codon usage bias in selfing Arabidopsis and Capsella species. Genome Biology and Evolution, 3, 868-880.
- Patterns of Codon Usage Bias in Silene latifolia. MOL BIOL EVOL, 28(1), 771-780.
- The effects of demography and linkage on the estimation of selection and mutation parameters.. Genetics, 186(4), 1411-1424.
- A simple multiallele model and its application to identifying preferred-unpreferred codons using polymorphism data.. Mol Biol Evol, 27(6), 1327-1337.
- Forces that influence the evolution of codon bias.. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 365(1544), 1203-1212.
- Studying patterns of recent evolution at synonymous sites and intronic sites in Drosophila melanogaster.. J Mol Evol, 70(1), 116-128.
- Estimating selection intensity on synonymous codon usage in a nonequilibrium population.. Genetics, 183(2), 651-23SI.
- Adaptive evolution of newly emerged micro-RNA genes in Drosophila.. Mol Biol Evol, 25(5), 929-938.
- Population genetics of speciation in nonmodel organisms: I. Ancestral polymorphism in mangroves. MOL BIOL EVOL, 24(12), 2746-2754.
- Compound tests for the detection of hitchhiking under positive selection. MOL BIOL EVOL, 24(8), 1898-1908.
- Comparisons of site- and haplotype-frequency methods for detecting positive selection. MOL BIOL EVOL, 24(7), 1562-1574.
- Statistical tests for detecting positive selection by utilizing high-frequency variants. GENETICS, 174(3), 1431-1439.
- Genomic variation in rice: Genesis of highly polymorphic linkage blocks during domestication. PLoS Genetics, 2(11), 1824-1833.
- Molecular phylogenetic analysis of mangroves: independent evolutionary origins of vivipary and salt secretion. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 34, 159-166.
Chapters
- Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird. Nature Communications, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Teaching activities
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I currently teach on the following modules:
- APS135 - Skills for Biologists 1
- APS222 - Level 2 Tutorials
- APS274 - The Molecular Revolution in Biology
- APS330 - Level 3 Projects
- APS331 - Level 3 Dissertations
- APS344 - Topics in Evolutionary Genetics
- APS351 - Human Evolutionary Genetics
- APS407 - Research and Study Skills in Biology
- Professional activities
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- Fellow of The Higher Education Academy