ecology / en Asian grass carp pose ecological threat to Great Lakes: 91勛圖 scientist part of Canadian-American research team /news/asian-grass-carp-pose-ecological-threat-great-lakes-u-t-scientist-part-canadian-american <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Asian grass carp pose ecological threat to Great Lakes: 91勛圖 scientist part of Canadian-American research team </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-grass-carp.jpg?h=8f90f55b&amp;itok=X_l0xFxn 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-27-grass-carp.jpg?h=8f90f55b&amp;itok=F4pmfaUT 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-27-grass-carp.jpg?h=8f90f55b&amp;itok=Fw-1Lk0x 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-grass-carp.jpg?h=8f90f55b&amp;itok=X_l0xFxn" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-27T15:10:56-05:00" title="Friday, January 27, 2017 - 15:10" class="datetime">Fri, 01/27/2017 - 15:10</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">91勛圖 biologist Nick Mandrak says that while not all invasive species have a high ecological impact, grass carp are voracious eaters, capable of consuming 40 per cent of their body weight per day (photo by Ken Jones) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Don Campbell</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisheries" hreflang="en">fisheries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/great-lakes" hreflang="en">Great Lakes</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/carp" hreflang="en">Carp</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">91勛圖 Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Asian grass carp&nbsp;pose a significant ecological threat to the Great Lakes and that threat could be extreme over the next 50 years.&nbsp;</p> <p>This is the major finding of <a href="http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/SAR-AS/2016/2016_057-eng.html">a large binational risk assessment</a> authored by a team of American and Canadian researchers, including <strong>Nick Mandrak</strong>, associate professor of biological sciences at 91勛圖 Scarborough.&nbsp;</p> <p>We dont want grass carp&nbsp;in the Great Lakes, and we need to act now in order to eradicate the population in the Sandusky River, says Mandrak, referring to the grass carp population already spawning in the Sandusky River in Ohio, which is connected to Lake Erie.&nbsp;</p> <p>The peer-reviewed study, led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and coordinated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, has&nbsp;researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 91勛圖, the U.S. Geological Survey&nbsp;and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.&nbsp;</p> <p>Mandrak himself has conducted risk assessments on silver and big head carp in the past&nbsp;and also authored the first Canadian risk assessment of Asian carp&nbsp;in 2004 when he worked at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.&nbsp;</p> <p>He says while not all invasive species have a high ecological impact, grass carp are different. For one, theyre voracious eaters, capable of consuming 40 per cent of their body weight per day. As a result, they can grow quite large, up to 30 cm long in their first year of life, meaning they have no natural predators in the Great Lakes. They also produce a lot of eggs, which means even in the short period of time when they can be eaten by larger fish, there are often too many to make a dent in their numbers.</p> <p>And if you think a cold Canadian climate will deter them, think again. Mandrak has done field research on grass carp living in Siberian lakes covered by more than a metre of ice.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3286 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="563" src="/sites/default/files/grass-carp.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>A joint American and Canadian report co-authored by 91勛圖 Scarborough Associate Professor Nick Mandrak finds that grass carp pose a significant threat to the Great Lakes. (Photo courtesy of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee)</em></p> <p>Grass carp were first introduced to North America from Asia as bio-control agents in the 1960s. They were brought in specifically to control aquatic vegetation like weeds growing in aquaculture ponds mostly used by the channel catfish industry.&nbsp;</p> <p>Unfortunately, they escaped from those controlled environments into the wild&nbsp;either by floods&nbsp;or through being released on purpose, says Mandrak.&nbsp;</p> <p>Since then, theyve migrated up the Mississippi River into the Great Lakes region where they are reproducing in the Sandusky River. Grass carp&nbsp;have already been found in Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario. &nbsp;</p> <p>The concern is that since fish dont obey borders, theres nothing preventing them from entering Canadian waters. Once there, Mandrak says grass carps could severely decimate wetlands, which are important spawning habitats for native fish.&nbsp;</p> <p>We need to be concerned because we share the Great Lakes, and the economic impacts would be significant&nbsp;especially when you look at commercial fishing and tourism, he says. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Mandrak points to one aquatic system in South Africa where 13 of the 14 aquatic species of vegetation were destroyed within two years of grass carp being introduced.&nbsp;</p> <p>He adds were at the point early in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CUiGYGPHFU">the invasion curve</a> where grass carp populations can be eradicated if rapid response is taken. If not, we could end up with scenarios from the past like sea lampreys and zebra mussels, two species that upended the ecology of the Great Lakes.</p> <p>This study organizes a lot of the information we know about grass carp&nbsp;and the risk they pose to the Great Lakes, Mandrak says. Now we need to figure out what next steps can be taken to manage the problem.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 27 Jan 2017 20:10:56 +0000 ullahnor 103642 at 91勛圖 researchers discover new creatures great and small /news/u-t-researchers-discover-new-creatures-great-and-small <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">91勛圖 researchers discover new creatures great and small</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-23-animals.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=P_GF9mHT 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-23-animals.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iGytOUaK 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-23-animals.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MsWHidqP 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-23-animals.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=P_GF9mHT" alt="Photo of lobster-like marine predator"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-23T11:48:24-05:00" title="Monday, January 23, 2017 - 11:48" class="datetime">Mon, 01/23/2017 - 11:48</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The lobster-like marine predator was one of six new species discovered (illustration by Lars Field) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/christine-elias" hreflang="en">Christine Elias</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Christine Elias</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/species" hreflang="en">Species</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/evolutionary-biology" hreflang="en">Evolutionary Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fossil" hreflang="en">Fossil</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dinosaur" hreflang="en">Dinosaur</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">6 new species discovered in past five years</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>From a deep-sea creature that predates dinosaurs by 250 million years to a chameleon-like lizard in the Dominican Republic, meet six new species &nbsp;some living and some extinct &nbsp;that have been discovered by scientists at 91勛圖's Faculty of Arts &amp; Science over the last five years.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3226 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="605" src="/sites/default/files/Wendiceratops_DDufault.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p>The Wendy dino &nbsp;named for legendary Canadian fossil hunter and discoverer Wendy Sloboda &nbsp;has been called one of the most striking horned dinosaurs ever found.</p> <p>An early member of the Triceratops family, the elaborate horns and head ornamentation of <em>Wendiceratops pinhornensis</em> set it apart from its relatives.</p> <p>The dino, found in southern Alberta in 2010, lived 79 million years ago, making it one of the oldest named members of the horned dinosaur family.</p> <p>The research on Wendiceratops was completed by<strong> David Evans</strong>, an associate professor in 91勛圖s department of ecology and evolutionary biology and a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum, and Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>It has greatly increased the understanding of the evolution of horned dinosaurs.</p> <hr> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3227 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="413" src="/sites/default/files/new-lizard.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p>This chameleon-like lizard &nbsp;a Greater Antillean anole named <em>Anolis landestoyi</em> for Miguel Landestoy, the naturalist who first spotted and photographed it &nbsp;is one of the first new anole species found in the Dominican Republic in decades.</p> <p>The new species was described by <strong>Luke Mahler</strong>, an assistant professor of ecology and&nbsp;evolutionary biology, as helping to piece together a long-standing puzzle of similar looking species that exist on different Caribbean islands.</p> <p>As soon as I saw the pictures, I thought, 'I need to buy a plane ticket,' says Mahler, who was the&nbsp;lead author of the&nbsp;published article on the discovery.</p> <h3><a href="/news/new-lizard-found-dominican-republic-u-t-researchers-say">Read more about the anole</a></h3> <hr> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3228 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="580" src="/sites/default/files/black-fly.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p>These black flies are preserved in 40 million-year-old Baltic amber.</p> <p>They differ markedly from all other known fossil black flies&nbsp;so likely represent a new genus and species. The male (left) and female (right) were probably entrapped in tree sap while mating.</p> <p><strong>Douglas Currie</strong>, an associate professor in 91勛圖s department of ecology and&nbsp;evolutionary biology and senior curator of entomology at the Royal Ontario Museum and 91勛圖 postdoctoral researcher<strong> Mateus Pepinelli </strong>plan to formally describe and name these black flies in 2017.</p> <hr> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3229 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="303" src="/sites/default/files/mazaruni.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Mazarunia charadrica</em> is one of three new species of cichlids found only in the upper Mazaruni River basin of Guyana.</p> <p><strong>Hern獺n L籀pez-Fern獺ndez</strong>, an associate professor in 91勛圖s department of ecology and&nbsp;evolutionary biology and an ichthyology curator at the Royal Ontario Museum, discovered the new species.</p> <p>It hails from a part of the world known for unique evolutionary treasures.</p> <p>Sadly, expanding mining efforts to extract gold from the river channel is&nbsp;endangering extraordinary fish fauna in South America.</p> <hr> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3230 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="730" src="/sites/default/files/Caenorhabditis%20macrosperma.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Caenorhabditis macrosperma </em>is a new species of nematode roundworm found in the Nouragues National Reserve of French Guiana in South America.</p> <p>As its name suggests,<em> C. macrosperma</em> has giant sperm that are more than 10 times larger than its more famous cousin, the biomedical model organism <em>C. elegans</em>. &nbsp;</p> <p>Nematode sperm are special: instead of swimming, the cells crawl around inside the female to find and fertilize an egg.</p> <p>The species was discovered&nbsp;in 2014 by <strong>Asher Cutter,</strong> a professor and&nbsp;evolutionary geneticist in 91勛圖s department of ecology and evolutionary biology.</p> <hr> <p><em><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3231 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="462" src="/sites/default/files/lobster-like%20%281%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"></em></p> <p><em>Yawunik kootenayi</em> is a segmented marine predator with two pairs of eyes and prominent grasping appendages that lived 508 million years ago &nbsp;more than 250 million years before the first dinosaur.</p> <p>The marine predator is an ancestral representative of euarthropods, the largest group of animals, which includes butterflies, spiders and lobsters. Its multipurpose frontal appendages, both sensory and predatory, constituted an early adaptive strategy that has now been replaced by a division of tasks between multiple appendages.</p> <p>It was discovered by a multinational group of paleontologists including <strong>C矇dric Aria</strong>, a PhD candidate in 91勛圖s department of ecology and&nbsp;evolutionary biology and <strong>Jean-Bernard Caron</strong>, senior curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum and an associate professor at 91勛圖.</p> <h3><a href="http://news.artsci.utoronto.ca/all-news/fossil-yawunik-lobster-like-predator/">Read more about the lobster-like marine predator</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 23 Jan 2017 16:48:24 +0000 ullahnor 103536 at 91勛圖 researchers find plants evolving to adapt to urbanization-driven environmental conditions /news/u-t-researchers-find-plants-evolving-adapt-urbanization-driven-environmental-conditions <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">91勛圖 researchers find plants evolving to adapt to urbanization-driven environmental conditions</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-05-clover.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ksyToz4k 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-05-clover.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ECP8Ezke 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-05-clover.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=xhBrn5B2 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-05-clover.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ksyToz4k" alt="Photo of frost-covered clover"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-06T09:32:20-05:00" title="Friday, January 6, 2017 - 09:32" class="datetime">Fri, 01/06/2017 - 09:32</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Frost-covered clover (photo by Marc Johnson)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/blake-eligh" hreflang="en">Blake Eligh</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Blake Eligh</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/plants" hreflang="en">Plants</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/environment" hreflang="en">Environment</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/urbanization" hreflang="en">Urbanization</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/living-organisms" hreflang="en">Living Organisms</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/evolutionary-biology" hreflang="en">Evolutionary Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">91勛圖 Mississauga</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A tiny plant is providing big clues about how urbanization is driving the evolution of living organisms.</p> <p>New research from U&nbsp;of T&nbsp;reveals the first evidence that the common white clover changes genetically to adapt to urban environments.</p> <p>The study&nbsp;by 91勛圖 Mississauga researchers <strong>Ken Thompson </strong>and <strong>Marc Johnson</strong>&nbsp;also reveals surprising new information about the effect that city temperatures may play in the process. Marie Renaudin&nbsp;of AgroSup Dijon&nbsp;is a co-author on the paper, which appears in the journal <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1845/20162180"><em>Proceedings of the Royal Society B</em></a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Humans build cities and live in them, but many other organisms live in our cities too, says Thompson, who conducted the research while working on a masters degree in ecology and evolutionary biology at 91勛圖. We wanted to see whether natural populations are adapting to urbanization. We also wanted to understand the ecological features of cities that might be driving such adaptations.&nbsp;</p> <p>The researchers studied white clover, which is commonly found in both urban and rural environments. Established traits of the plant include cyanogenesis, a poisonous chemical defence system that protects clover from herbivores.</p> <p>When crushed, chemicals in the leaves combine to create hydrogen cyanide, which deters slugs and other creatures from eating the plant. But the chemical protection comes at a cost if the clover freezes, those same compounds harm the plant. As a result, clover has evolved to be less likely to display cyanogenic traits in cold climates&nbsp;and more likely to display cyanogenic traits in warm climates.</p> <p>We saw this as the ideal model system to test if organisms adapt to cities, says Johnson, an associate professor of biology at 91勛圖 Mississauga. We know clover adapts to temperature variation at continental scales, and we know there are similar temperature changes across cities like Toronto, New York, Montreal and Boston.</p> <p>The research team sampled thousands of plants from clover populations along 50-kilometre paths between the urban core of Toronto and rural areas outside the city, looking for evidence of evolutionary changes in cyanogenic traits.</p> <p>Air temperatures in cities are often a few degrees higher than surrounding rural areas due to a sparse tree canopy and acres of asphalt and concrete that absorb and reflect the suns heat. Because of this urban heat island effect, the researchers expected to find evidence of cyanogenic traits in urban clover.</p> <p>We expected the urban plants to have more cyanide in the city because warmer temperatures would result in less freezing, says Thompson, who is now working on his&nbsp;PhD at the University of British Columbia. But we found the exact opposite populations are evolving decreased levels of cyanide toward the urban centre.</p> <p>The same pattern was repeated in clover samples from Boston and New York City.</p> <p>Data tells us that the air temperature is warmer in the city centre, Thompson says. We needed temperature data from the plants perspective.</p> <p>The team monitored ground-level temperature sensors over the winter. The sensors revealed a surprise despite warmer urban air temperatures during the day, it is much colder at ground level in the city centre at night than it is in the country. They called it&nbsp;the urban cold island effect.</p> <p>By analyzing satellite images, the researchers concluded that snow cover played a crucial part in the process.</p> <p>Snow is a great insulator of the ground&nbsp;so plants buried under snow are much warmer than plants that are not, Thompson says. Rural populations are more insulated by snow, but we found a decrease in snow cover in urban populations, leaving plants exposed to cold temperatures. This appears to cause natural selection for plants that lack cyanogenic traits in cities.</p> <p>The sole outlier in the study was Montreal, which experiences more urban snow cover than the other cities in the study.</p> <p>Were learning that organisms are rapidly adapting to the unique environmental conditions associated with urbanization, Thompson says. We know a lot about the climates of cities, but this research shows that cities are having surprising effects on living organisms. We need more data on how evolution is happening to understand the effect of urbanization on living organisms.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 06 Jan 2017 14:32:20 +0000 ullahnor 103020 at 91勛圖 evolutionary biologist Stephen Wright takes Steacie Prize /news/u-t-evolutionary-biologist-stephen-wright-takes-steacie-prize <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">91勛圖 evolutionary biologist Stephen Wright takes Steacie Prize</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Stephen%20Wright.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RJsDtQsA 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Stephen%20Wright.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=-xyAudPH 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Stephen%20Wright.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kFBiwa_- 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Stephen%20Wright.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RJsDtQsA" alt="Photo of Stephen Wright"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>geoff.vendeville</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-12-15T11:50:38-05:00" title="Thursday, December 15, 2016 - 11:50" class="datetime">Thu, 12/15/2016 - 11:50</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Stephen Wright, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Population Genomics, was awarded the prestigious Steacie Prize (photo courtesy of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/peter-boisseau" hreflang="en">Peter Boisseau</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Peter Boisseau</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/awards" hreflang="en">Awards</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/honours" hreflang="en">Honours</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/evolutionary-biology" hreflang="en">Evolutionary Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">The genome itself is not this blueprint its a society of genes where there is all this evolutionary activity going on in its own right </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Evolutionary biologist and world-renowned plant genomicist <strong>Stephen Wright </strong>of the 91勛圖 has capped a remarkable year by winning the prestigious Steacie Prize.</p> <p>The prize is awarded annually to a scientist or engineer 40 years of age or younger for notable contributions to research in Canada. &nbsp;</p> <p>Its certainly a big honour for our group, says Wright, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Population Genomics with 91勛圖s department of ecology &amp; evolutionary biology.</p> <p>Its an especially exciting thing for our department&nbsp;since this is the second year in a row that we have received this, adds Wright, noting that his colleague <strong>Aneil Agrawal</strong>, a distinguished professor of evolutionary genetics,&nbsp;was <a href="/news/top-evolutionary-geneticist-aneil-agrawal-takes-steacie-prize">the 2015 Steacie Prize winner</a>. Its also a great coup for our field.</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="500" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OUMPG_hWrek" width="750"></iframe></p> <p>Wright says the back-to-back awards speak to the growing stature of evolutionary biology and genomics in the sciences.&nbsp;</p> <p>Just as he was finishing his undergraduate degree, the first plant genome was being mapped out. Since then, the study of evolutionary plant genomics has skyrocketed&nbsp;with a rapidly growing number of species now catalogued in huge data sets.</p> <p>I sort of grew up as the field was growing up, Wright says.</p> <p>Our ability to address these questions is still exploding.</p> <p>Wright has already established himself as one of the worlds most influential scientists in this emerging field of plant population and evolutionary genomics.</p> <p>Earlier this year, he won a <a href="http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp">Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) </a>E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship. It&nbsp;is helping to fund his labs new research on herbicide-resistant super weeds,&nbsp;a growing threat to global food security and the livelihood of millions of farmers.</p> <h3><a href="/news/stephen-wright-leader-evolutionary-genomics-awarded-ewr-steacie-memorial-fellowship-nserc">Read more about the fellowship</a></h3> <p>He also won the 2016 Margaret Dayhoff Award for Research Excellence from the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) and was inducted this year to the <a href="/news/u-t-scholars-join-rsc-college">College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada</a>.&nbsp;To date, Wright has published approximately 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, garnering nearly 5,500 citations. This body of work has provided important new insights into how plant genomes evolve and adapt&nbsp;and the evolutionary consequences of reproducing by inbreeding and cloning. &nbsp;</p> <p>Wright is the 20th 91勛圖 scientist to receive the Steacie Prize since it was created in 1964. The prize is named in honour of a former president of NSERC and administered by the trustees of the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fund, a private foundation dedicated to the advancement of science and engineering in Canada.</p> <p>"There were a number of really outstanding nominees from a wide range of scientific disciplines&nbsp;but Stephen stood out,&nbsp;and the final decision was fairly easy," says Bob McKellar, researcher emeritus with NSERC.</p> <p>Wright says the next step in understanding how herbicide resistance evolves in weeds,&nbsp;sometimes in just five or 10 years,&nbsp;is figuring out more about how resistance spreads through populations and across the landscape. To investigate this, it is also essential to determine what parts of the genome have functionally important roles.</p> <p>But identifying functional regions of the genome is not trivial.</p> <p>Its essentially like looking at a big pile of parts, but its even worse than that&nbsp;because a lot of the parts may not do anything.&nbsp;</p> <p>While he maintains his interest in applying plant population genomics to probing that question a problem analogous to antibiotic resistance in bacteria &nbsp;Wright says hes equally intrigued by how the genome is structured, which is still poorly understood by scientists.</p> <p>Wright notes that almost half of the human genome and up to 80 per cent of some plant genomes is made up of selfish segments of DNA, propagating themselves for their own purposes without doing anything useful for their host.</p> <p>Even for evolutionary biologists, its sometimes a mental stretch to come to grips with the idea we would dissolve into a bunch of selfish genes if not for evolutionary pressures on the rest of the genome to keep order.</p> <p>Its always fascinated me that the genome itself is not this blueprint its a society of genes where there is all this evolutionary activity going on in its own right, he says.</p> <p>So applying evolutionary theory to the genome is just as exciting as using the genome to ask evolutionary questions.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 15 Dec 2016 16:50:38 +0000 geoff.vendeville 102814 at Koffler Scientific Reserve /node/8613 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Koffler Scientific Reserve</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-01-07T15:47:15-05:00" title="Thursday, January 7, 2016 - 15:47" class="datetime">Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:47</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-url field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">URL</div> <div class="field__item">https://ksr.utoronto.ca/</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-above clearfix"> <h3 class="field__label">Tags</h3> <ul class="links field__items"> <li><a href="/news/tags/ksr" hreflang="en">ksr</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/biology" hreflang="en">Biology</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-campus field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Campus</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/7034" hreflang="en">Off Campus</a></div> </div> Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:47:15 +0000 sgupta 8613 at Global Change Science, Centre for /node/8560 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Global Change Science, Centre for </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-01-07T15:47:13-05:00" title="Thursday, January 7, 2016 - 15:47" class="datetime">Thu, 01/07/2016 - 15:47</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-url field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">URL</div> <div class="field__item">https://cgcs.physics.utoronto.ca</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-above clearfix"> <h3 class="field__label">Tags</h3> <ul class="links field__items"> <li><a href="/news/tags/cgcs" hreflang="en">cgcs</a></li> <li><a href="/news/tags/ecology" hreflang="en">ecology</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-campus field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Campus</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6953" hreflang="en">St. George</a></div> </div> Thu, 07 Jan 2016 20:47:13 +0000 sgupta 8560 at