Alan R. Templeton, Ph.D.
Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology
Biology
Professor
Genetics
Biomedical Engineering
Research Associate
Missouri Botanical Garden
Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology Program
Human and Statistical Genetics Program
Computational and Systems Biology Program
Molecular Genetics and Genomics Program
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Office Phone: 314-935-6868
Lab Phone: 314-935-6867
Other Phone:
FAX: 314-935-4432
Box: 1137
Lab Address: 311 McDonnell Hall
Email: temple_a@wustl.edu
Website: http://www.biology.wustl.edu/faculty/templeton.html
Keywords: biostatistics; computational biology; conservation; genetic epidemiology; molecular evolution; population genetics
Short Research Description: Application of molecular genetic techniques and statistical evolutionary genetics to the study of genotype/phenotype associations, the evolution of the human genome, and the conservation of endangered species. |
Research Abstract:
I apply molecular and population genetics to problems in evolutionary and conservation biology and in human genetics. Because many genes have a known function, loci can be identified that may influence a trait of interest. I use candidate loci to study natural selection in various species and to examine the role of genes in complex diseases in human populations. High levels of molecular variation at candidate loci make it difficult to identify the few mutations associated with significant phenotypic effects. To solve this problem, I construct an evolutionary tree of the genetic variation at a candidate locus and use this tree to define a statistical analyses. Functionally important mutations are imbedded in the evolutionary history of this genetic variation, and therefore phenotypic effects should be non-randomly distributed over the tree. This tree approach is more powerful than approaches that ignore evolutionary history. I am now developing new evolutionary techniques to detect epistasis between candidate loci in influencing risk to common diseases.
I have extended this evolutionary tree approach to separate the effects of current population structure from past events that occurred in the history of a species, such as fragmentation events and geographical range changes. Such analyses yield much insight into recent human evolution, provide a rigorous manner to identify species and study speciation, and aid in designing and monitoring conservation programs for endangered species. Among those programs, I am studying the impact of forest fire management upon the demography and genetics of Ozark populations of the collared lizard and the impact of human-induced habitat fragmentation on an endangered salamander in Israel. |
Selected Publications:
Templeton AR. Statistical hypothesis testing in intraspecific phylogeography: nested clade phylogeographical analysis vs. approximate Bayesian computation. Molecular Ecology 2009 18(2):319-331.
Templeton AR. The reality and importance of founder speciation in evolution. BioEssays 2008 30(5):470-479.
Bercovici S, Geiger D, Shlush L, Skorecki K, Templeton A. Panel construction for mapping in admixed populations via expected mutual information. Genome Research 2008 18(4):661-667.
Templeton AR, Neuwald JL, Brazeal H, Robertson RJ. Restoring Demographic Processes in Translocated Populations: The Case of Collared Lizards in the Missouri Ozarks Using Prescribed Forest Fires. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution 2007 53(2):179 - 196.
Templeton AR. Perspective: Genetics and recent human evolution. Evolution 2007 61(7):1507-1519. |