Florencia Camus

Dr Florencia Camus

Florencia Camus

f.camus@ucl.ac.uk

UCL

Genetics, Evolution and Environment

NERC Independent Research Fellow

1) Mito-nuclear interactions
I have a slight obsession when it comes to understanding the role mito-nuclear interactions play in evolutionary biology. These two genomes have been coevolving since the dawn of Eukaryotic life, and it’s remarkable that they have been able to harmoniously coevolve for this long given the major differences between them. I use Drosophila as a model to uncouple the effect of both genomes, and observe the life-history consequences.

2) Sex differences in nutritional requirements
I also very keen in understanding sex differences in metabolism. Males and females perform different reproductive roles and have adapted to these by evolving sometimes strikingly different phenotypes. A key means to observe and understand differences is to examine metabolism, with studies being able to link differences in diet composition to varying levels of phenotypes. In spite of the clear dimorphism observed across the animal kingdom, both sexes are locked into a struggle over adaptation, rooted in the fact that both sexes share an almost identical genome.

I am interested in identifying the dietary optimum for both males/females in Drosophila , and seeing if this dietary optimum is actually what males and females prefer when given a choice. I am also interested in identifying possible candidate genes that are involved in the diet decision-making.

Evolutionary biology, genetics, mitochondrial biology, ecophysiology

@@fcamus