Professor Roger Butlin
School of Biosciences
Professor of Evolutionary Biology
+44 114 222 0097
Full contact details
School of Biosciences
B83
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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- 1973-1976 Jesus College, Cambridge BA Natural Sciences (Genetics)
- 1979-1982 Ph.D. Department of Genetics, University of Nottingham
- 1982-1986 Senior Research Associate, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia.
- 1987-1992 Royal Society 1983 University Research Fellow, School of Pure and Applied Biology, University of Wales College of Cardiff
- 1992-1994 Lecturer, Department of Genetics, The University of Leeds
- 1994-1999 Reader in Evolutionary Biology, School of Biology, The University of Leeds
- 1999-2004 Professor of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biology, The University of Leeds
- 2013-2014 Tage Erlander Guest Professor, Swedish Research Council (held at the University of Gothenburg), 50%
- 2014-2015 Waernska Guest Professor, University of Gothenburg, 50%
Since 2016 I have spent 30% of my time at the University of Gothenburg as Guest Professor.
- Research interests
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My research is concerned primarily with the origin of barriers to gene exchange, especially the evolutionary genetics of reproductive isolation. I have used insect acoustic and chemical signals as model systems to investigate the controversial process of reinforcement, particularly in parapatry, and questions such as the inheritance of signal characters and the form of female preferences. I am currently working on local adaptation and speciation in winkles (Littorina), with European Research Council and NERC funding, and using experimental evolution in rotifers to address similar questions in the lab (with NERC funding). I also collaborate in related projects with Drosophila subobscura and D. montana, and with host races of the pea aphid (Acrythosiphon). Another area of research concerns the evolution of asexual reproduction. I am interested in evolution at range margins and its implications for conservation genetics. I collaborate in studies of the genetic basis of virulence in the parasitic plant Striga. We use a wide range of approaches from field behaviour and ecology to genomics.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- The evolution of strong reproductive isolation between sympatric intertidal snails. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1806). View this article in WRRO
- Assortative mating, sexual selection and their consequences for gene flow in Littorina. Evolution. View this article in WRRO
- A developmentally descriptive method for quantifying shape in gastropod shells. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 17(163). View this article in WRRO
- Genomic architecture of parallel ecological divergence : beyond a single environmental contrast. Science Advances, 5(12). View this article in WRRO
- Local adaptation stops where ecological gradients steepen or are interrupted. Evolutionary Applications, 12, 1449-1462. View this article in WRRO
- Evolving inversions. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 34(3), 239-248. View this article in WRRO
- Are assortative mating and genital divergence driven by reinforcement?. Evolution Letters, 2(6), 557-566. View this article in WRRO
- Multiple chromosomal rearrangements in a hybrid zone between Littorina saxatilis ecotypes.. Molecular Ecology. View this article in WRRO
- Clines on the seashore: The genomic architecture underlying rapid divergence in the face of gene flow.. Evolution Letters, 2(4), 297-309. View this article in WRRO
- Coupling, Reinforcement, and Speciation.. The American Naturalist, 191(2), 155-172. View this article in WRRO
- Differential gene expression according to race and host plant in the pea aphid. Molecular Ecology, 25(17), 4197-4215. View this article in WRRO
- Large-scale candidate gene scan reveals the role of chemoreceptor genes in host plant specialization and speciation in the pea aphid. Evolution, 66(9), 2723-2738.
- Why is adaptation prevented at ecological margins? New insights from individual-based simulations.. Ecol Lett, 13(4), 485-494.
- Large gene family expansions and adaptive evolution for odorant and gustatory receptors in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.. Mol Biol Evol, 26(9), 2073-2086.
- Sequence differentiation in regions identified by a genome scan for local adaptation.. Mol Ecol, 17(13), 3123-3135.
- The evolution of strong reproductive isolation between sympatric intertidal snails. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 375(1806). View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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- Dr Isobel Eyres - Experimental evolution and speciation in rotifers, email: i.eyres@sheffield.ac.uk
- Dr Eva Koch - Local adaptation and speciation in Littorina, email: e.koch@sheffield.ac.uk
Graduate Students
- Jenny Larsson - Growth and shape in gastropods, email: JLarsson1@sheffield.ac.uk
- Nathan White - Experimental evolution in rotifers, email: nwhite3@sheffield.ac.uk
- Katie Hearn - Inversion polymorphism in Littorina, email: KHearn1@gmail.com
Technicians
- Zuzanna Zagrodzka – z.zagrodzka@sheffield.ac.uk
- Meghan Wharton – m.wharton@sheffield.ac.uk
- Teaching activities
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My teaching is currently restricted to Level 3, where I contribute to APS344 Topics in Evolutionary Genetics, which is based around student-led discussion sessions rather than conventional lectures. I run one of three topics, on the genetics of speciation, using recent, high-profile papers to bring students right up to date with current controversies.
Recent Level 4 MBiolSci students and MRes students in my group have worked on speciation-related questions in the rocky-shore gastropod, Littorina, rotifers or pea aphids. They have used ecological, morphometric and behavioural approaches as well as molecular genetic techniques.
- Professional activities
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- Distinguished Fellow, European Society for Evolutionary Biology, 2019
- Foreign Member, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, elected 2017
- Doctor of Science (honoris causa), University of Gothenburg, 2016
- President, European Society for Evolutionary Biology, 2013-2015
- Darwin-Wallace Medal, 2015, awarded by the Linnean Society of London
- Associate Editor, American Naturalist, from 2015
- Editorial Board, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B, from 2015
- Editor in Chief, Heredity, 2009-2012
- Member (2008, 2010) and Chair (2012, 2014), European Research Council Advanced Grants Panel, LS8