Ongoing research by Darwin Tree of Life

While the main focus of Darwin Tree of Life is to collect, sequence, assemble and publish new reference genomes for all British and Irish species, our scientists have also been working with these vast (and rapidly growing) datasets to probe interesting questions about biology.

Below is a list of the research being undertaken by DToL teams at our partner organisations.

Wolbachia infections in insects

Research by Emmelien Vancaester at Wellcome Sanger Institute.

Using the entire range of DToL insect genomes to investigate how infections by the Wolbachia bacteria are distributed across the tree of life.

Homeobox genes in Lepidotera

Research by Peter Mulhair at Wytham Woods, University of Oxford.

Using DToL’s butterfly and moth genomes to investigate how homeobox genes – which have essential roles in patterning and cell fate in developing animal embryos – evolved in the order Lepidoptera.