Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Are synonymous mutations under selection and if so why? Are genomes randomly arranged assemblages of genes or is gene order non-random? Why are most genes apparently “redundant”? My research approaches these and related questions employing mathematical, bioinformatical, systems biological and experimental tools.
Two classes of problem stand out. On the one hand there are features of genetic systems that appear counter-intuitive. Why, for example, do many single celled organisms have just two mating types and inherit their organelles from just one parent, even when both gametes are the same size? On the other hand I wish to understand whether genes, genomes and genetic systems are shaped by selection (and if so why) or whether they are neutrally evolving traits. I have shown, for example, how the genetic code is well structured to minimize the effects of mistranslation. More recently I have been concerned with the evolution of isochores, of redundancy, of gene content, of selection on synonymous mutations (and codon usage bias) and gene order evolution. A decade ago it was considered that in mammals both gene order and synonymous mutations were neutrally evolving. The research of my group has been important in overturning these positions. Gene order evolution and mechanisms for selection on synonymous mutations are the focus of much of our current work.
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Network
Projects
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The evolutionary dynamics of long non-coding RNAs and chromatin structure in plants
31/03/18 → 30/03/21
Project: Research council
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How Does the expression of One Gene Affect that of its Neighbour?
1/01/17 → 28/02/21
Project: Research council
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EvoGenMed - Evolutionary genomics: new perspectives and novel medical applications
1/01/16 → 30/06/21
Project: EU Commission
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Global Chairs 2015-2016
Hurst, L. & Purugganan, M.
1/06/17 → 31/07/17
Project: Research-related funding
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Elucidating the Role of Long Non-coding RNAs
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/07/16 → 30/06/19
Project: Research council
Research output
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Effective population size predicts local rates but not local mitigation of read-through errors in eukaryotic genes
Ho, A. T. & Hurst, L. D., 31 Jan 2021, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38, 1, p. 244-262Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Evidence for strong mutation bias towards, and selection against, U content in SARS-CoV-2: implications for vaccine design
Hurst, L., Castillo Morales, A., Ho, A., Mühlhausen, S., Mordstein, C. & Rice, A. M., 31 Jan 2021, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38, 1, p. 67-83Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Active and repressed biosynthetic gene clusters have spatially distinct chromosome states
Nützmann, H-W., Doerr, D., Ramirez-Colmenero, A., Sotelo-Fonseca, J. E., Wegel, E., Di Stefano, M., Wingett, S. W., Fraser, P., Hurst, L., Fernandez-Valverde, S. L. & Osbourn, A., 16 Jun 2020, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117, 24, p. 13800-13809 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)86 Downloads (Pure) -
A Depletion of Stop Codons in lincRNA is Owing to Transfer of Selective Constraint from Coding Sequences
Abrahams, L. & Hurst, L. D., 1 Apr 2020, In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 37, 4, p. 1148-1164 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A RCT for assessment of active human-centred learning finds teacher-centric non-human teaching of evolution optimal
Hejmadi, M., Hurst, L., Abrahams, L. & Buchan, D., 4 Dec 2020, In: Nature Partner Journal - Science of Learning.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Dataset for "Teaching genetics prior to teaching evolution improves evolution understanding but not acceptance"
Mead, R. (Creator), Hejmadi, M. (Creator) & Hurst, L. (Creator), PLOS, 2017
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2002255, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2002255.s010 and one more link, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2002255.s011 (show fewer)
Dataset
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Dataset for "Timing of replication is a determinant of neutral substitution rates but does not explain slow Y chromosome evolution in rodents"
Pink, C. (Creator), Hurst, L. (Creator) & Lercher, M. (Creator), University of Bath, 2015
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00091
Dataset