Muktai Kuwalekar

University of Helsinki | HY · Institute of Biotechnology

Gene duplication is a vital process for evolutionary innovation. Functional diversification of duplicated genes is best explored in multicopy gene families such as histones, hemoglobin, and opsins. Rhodopsins are photo-sensitive proteins that respond to different wavelengths of light and contribute to diverse visual adaptations across insects. Whil...

Theory predicts that in allopatric populations, genomic divergence and reproductive barriers will be driven largely by random genetic drift, and thereby evolve slowly in large populations. However, local adaptation and divergence under selection may also play important roles, which remain poorly characterised. Here we address three key questions in...

Pigmentation is involved in a wide array of biological functions across insect orders, including body patterning, thermoregulation, and immunity. The melanin pathway, in particular, has been characterized in several species. However, molecular evolution of the genes involved in this pathway is poorly explored. We traced the molecular evolution of s...

Pigmentation is involved in a wide array of biological functions across insect orders, including body patterning, thermoregulation, and immunity. The melanin pathway, in particular, has been characterized in several species. However, molecular evolution of the genes involved in this pathway is poorly characterized, and their roles in pigmentation o...

Butterfly wing patterns are key adaptations that are controlled by remarkable developmental and genetic mechanisms that facilitate rapid evolutionary change. With swift advancements in the fields of genomics and genetic manipulations, identifying the regulators of wing development and mimetic wing patterns has become feasible even in nonmodel organ...