Welcome!
My name is Jason Gallant, and I am a postdoctoral research associate working in the evolutionary genetics laboratory of Sean Mullen at Boston University. I am interested in the genetic basis of novel phenotypic and behavioral traits involved in animal communication signals, particularly as they relate to signal diversity, mate choice, and speciation.
My current research projects, which began in October 2011, involve the identification and characterization of genes which contribue to wing color pattern variation between North-American butterfly subspecies in the Limenitis arthemis-astyanax complex. Shown on the left are the two Limenitis species that we focus on in the Mullen lab, along with the model for the red-spotted Purple, the pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor)
I completed my Ph.D. in July 2011, working with Carl Hopkins and David Deitcher at Cornell University. Here, I studied the evolution of signal form and electric organ morphology among the Mormyrid electric fishes of Africa in the genus Paramormyrops, which have undergone explosive speciation in West Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, and Congo). My research has involved the study of a novel vertebrate tissue, the electric organ. Electric organs have evolved independently in several lineages of fish, and derive (almost) always from skeletal muscle during early larval development. My current projects concerned (1) transcriptional differences between skeletal muscle and electric organ and (2) how evolutionary processes may act upon electric organs (and their transcriptomes) to produce novel signals. I employ a variety of approaches in my studies- DNA genotyping, transcriptomics, immunohistochemistry, digital signal analysis, and field studies.
Shown to the right is the electric organ of the mormyrid Paramormyrops kingselaye over several levels of magnification. The last two boxes show the fine structure of individual electrocytes that comprise the electric organ.
Follow the links above to learn more about my research, teaching, and fieldwork!
