Sébastien Renaut
Post-Doctoral Fellow
srenaut (at) interchange.ubc.ca

 I am broadly interested in the genomic basis of population adaptation and divergence. While at UBC, I will work on the origin and maintenance of species divergence using wild populations of Helianthus annuus and its closely related congener H. petiolaris. These two sympatric species remain largely reproductively isolated and ecologically distinct, yet also frequently hybridize and exchange large parts of their genome.

My research will address two primary objectives: characterize the genes expressed (transcriptome) in H. annuus and H. petiolaris and identify the number and size of regions under divergent natural selection (genomic islands of speciation). I will address these objectives by making use of next generation transcriptome sequencing data (454 and Illumina) and high density genetic and physical maps currently being completed for H. annuus. I will also collaborate on building a genetic map for H. petiolaris using RAD sequencing. This will permit to finely map chromosomal rearrangements, which are believed to be at least partly, responsible for the maintenance of species divergence. During my project, I hope to provide a truly genome-wide perspective on how a species' genomic integrity in maintained the face of ongoing gene flow.

In addition, I am still collaborating on several aspects of my PhD project (2006-2010) regarding the genomic bases of adaptive divergence in the context of an ongoing speciation event. In many North American lakes, two morphologically distinct incipient species are present in sympatry: the normal and dwarf lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). In the past, I have made pure and hybrid crosses to compared gene expression profiles at different developmental stages. In addition, I used next generation sequencing technology to discover genetic markers and quantify the extant of divergence between both normal and dwarf whitefish.

 

Publications
13.Rowe HC, Renaut S, Guggisberg A. 2011. Meeting Review: RAD in the realm of next-generation sequencing technologies. Molecular Ecology. Accepted.

12. Renaut S, Maillet N, Normandeau E, Sauvage C, Derome N, Rogers SM, Bernatchez L. 2011. The genetic basis of species boundaries: the lake whitefish case study. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. In press.

11. Renaut S. 2011. Contemporary hybrid speciation in sculpins (Cottus spp.). Perspective for Molecular Ecology 20: 1320-1321.

10. Renaut S, Nolte AW, Rogers SM, Derome N, Bernatchez L. 2011. Gradients of ecological speciation, SNP signature of selection on standing genetic variation, and association with adaptive phenotypes in lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus spp.). Molecular Ecology 20: 545-559.

9. Renaut S, Bernatchez L. 2011. Misexpression of developmental essential genes associated with intrinsic reproductive isolation in young incipient species.Heredity 106: 1003-1011.

8. Jeukens J, Renaut S, St-Cyr J, Nolte AW, Bernatchez L. 2010. The transcriptomics of sympatric dwarf and normal lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis spp., Salmonidae) divergence as revealed by next-generation sequencing. Molecular Ecology 19: 5389-5403.

7. Bernatchez L, Renaut S, Whiteley AR, et al. 2010. On the origin of species: insights from the ecological genomics of lake whitefish. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 365:1783-1800.

6. Renaut S, Nolte AW, Bernatchez L. 2010. Mining transcriptome sequences towards identifying adaptive single nucleotide polymorphisms in lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus spp. Salmonidae). Molecular Ecology 19: 115-131.

5. Renaut S, Nolte AW, Bernatchez L. 2009. Gene expression divergence and hybrid misexpression between lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus spp. Salmonidae). Molecular Biology and Evolution 26:925-936.

4. Nolte AW, Renaut S, Bernatchez L. 2009. Regulatory divergence in life history stages of whitefish and the emergence of postzygotic isolation. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9: 59.

3. Whiteley AR, Derome N, Rogers SM, St-Cyr J, Jeukens J, Nolte AW, Renaut S, Laroche J, Labbe A, and Bernatchez L. 2008. The phenomics and eQTL mapping of brain transcriptomes regulating adaptive divergence in lake whitefish species pairs (Coregonus sp.). Genetics 180:147-164.

2. Lauzer D, Renaut S, St-Arnaud M, Barabé D. 2007. In vitro asymbiotic germination and protocorm development of Aplectrum hyemale (orchidaceae). Journal of Torrey Botanical Society 134: 344-348.

1. Renaut S, Replansky T, Heppleston A, Bell G. 2006. The ecology and genetics of fitness in Chlamydomonas . XIII. Fitness of long-term sexual and asexual populations in benign environments. Evolution 60: 2272-2279