Identifying Sites of Sequence Variation Among Populations of Drosophila sechellia Using Bioinformatics Pipeline

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Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Thursday, July 30th 1:15-2:30pm EDT

Angela Sofia Colorado
Angela Sofia Colorado

Angela Sofia Colorado is a rising senior (’21) from Denver, Colorado. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy High School, and she is currently majoring in Biology and French, as well as pursuing a certificate in Informatics and Modeling. Her interests include Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels, hiking, dancing, and traveling. She plans to use all the knowledge, skills, and experiences gained at Wesleyan to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Informatics after graduation.

Candice Shi
Candice Shi

Candice Shi is a rising senior (’21) majoring in biology and completing a certificate in informatics and modeling. She grew up in Vancouver, Canada and went to high school at the International School of Beijing when her family moved to China. Her academic interests revolve around genomics, human genetics, and social determinants of health. She hopes to work in the biotech industry or attend a genetic counseling program after graduation. At Wesleyan, Candice is involved with the East Asian outreach club and friendly badminton sessions. Things that put a smile on her face are harbor seals and a good hike.

Abstract: Drosophila sechellia is a species of fruit fly found on the Seychelles Islands off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. After colonization of the island chain, D. sechellia evolved many derived traits associated with specialization on its preferred host plant Morinda citrifolia including resistance to defense compounds like octanoic acid it produces. In order to identify the genetic basis of evolved traits in this species we are analyzing the D. sechellia genome for regions with levels of sequence variation among populations. These variations will point towards genes and mutations that were potentially involved in important trait changes. To do this we built a custom bioinformatics pipeline using the online platform Galaxy. Genome-wide metrics of sequence coverage, sequence variation among strains and populations, and allele frequency of these variants, highlight the utility of this approach in identifying interesting regions of the genome.

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Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Thursday, July 30th 1:15-2:30pm EDT

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