Vicoso Group
Sex-Chromosome Biology and Evolution
Sex chromosomes, such as the X and Y of mammals, are involved in sex-determination in many animal and plant species. Their sex specificity leads them to evolve differently from other chromosomes, and acquire distinctive biological properties. The Vicoso group investigates how sex chromosomes evolve over time, and what biological forces are driving their patterns of differentiation.
The Vicoso group is interested in understanding several aspects of the biology of sex chromosomes, and the evolutionary processes that shape their peculiar features. By combining the use of next-generation sequencing technologies with studies in several model and non-model organisms, they can address a variety of standing questions, such as: Why do some Y chromosomes degenerate while others remain homomorphic, and how does this relate to the extent of sexual dimorphism of the species? What forces drive some species to acquire global dosage compensation of the X, while others only compensate specific genes? What are the frequency and molecular dynamics of sex-chromosome turnover?
Group Leader
Administrative Support
On this site:
Team
Current Projects
Sex chromosome turnover and conservation | Dosage compensation in female-heterogametic species | Gene expression evolution in sexual and asexual species
Publications
De Jode A, Le Moan A, Johannesson K, Faria R, Stankowski S, Westram AM, Butlin RK, Rafajlović M, Fraisse C. 2023. Ten years of demographic modelling of divergence and speciation in the sea. Evolutionary Applications. 16(2), 542–559. View
Mrnjavac A, Khudiakova K, Barton NH, Vicoso B. 2023. Slower-X: Reduced efficiency of selection in the early stages of X chromosome evolution. Evolution Letters., qrac004. View
Elkrewi MN, Khauratovich U, Toups MA, Bett VK, Mrnjavac A, Macon A, Fraisse C, Sax L, Huylmans AK, Hontoria F, Vicoso B. 2022. ZW sex-chromosome evolution and contagious parthenogenesis in Artemia brine shrimp. Genetics. 222(2), iyac123. View
Westram AM, Faria R, Johannesson K, Butlin R, Barton NH. 2022. Inversions and parallel evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 377(1856), 20210203. View
Toups MA, Vicoso B, Pannell JR. 2022. Dioecy and chromosomal sex determination are maintained through allopolyploid speciation in the plant genus Mercurialis. PLoS Genetics. 18(7), e1010226. View
ReX-Link: Beatriz Vicoso
Career
since 2015 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2009 – 2014 Postdoc, University of California, Berkeley, USA
2010 PhD, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Selected Distinctions
2017 Member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
2016 ERC Starting Grant
2016 FWF Standalone Grant
2011 DeLill Nasser Travel Award from the Genetics Society of America
