Andrew Whitehead
Andrew WhiteheadBroadly speaking, activities in the Whitehead lab revolve around Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics research. This line of research seeks to understand how genomes integrate cues from, respond to, and are shaped by the external environment. We examine genomic responses to stress that occur over physiological timescales (acclimation responses) and over evolutionary timescales (adaptive responses). Many complementary approaches are integrated into our program, including genome expression profiling using microarrays, population genetics and phylogenetics, and physiology, to study how individuals and species respond to and adapt to environmental stress. Stressors of interest include those that are natural (temperature, salinity) or of human origin (pollutants).
Please visit the laboratory web page for more details: http://www.biology.lsu.edu/webfac/awhitehead/frontpage%20template.htm
We are currently recruiting highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students to the lab. If this research program interests you, please contact me at andreww@lsu.edu
Selected Publications:
Whitehead, A, and D.L. Crawford (2006). Neutral and adaptive variation in gene expression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103: 5425-5430.
The above article was cited as a Faculty of 1000 Biology “Must Read” (Artyom Kopp: Faculty of 1000 Biology, 30 May 2006 http://www.f1000biology.com/article/16567645/evaluation)
Whitehead, A, and D.L. Crawford (2006). Variation within and among species in gene expression: Raw material for evolution. Molecular Ecology 15: 1197-1211.
Whitehead, A, and D.L. Crawford (2005). Variation in tissue-specific gene expression among natural populations. Genome Biology 6: R13.
Whitehead, A, S.L. Anderson, A.B. Ramirez, and B.W. Wilson (2005). Cholinesterases in aquatic biomonitoring: Assay optimization and species-specific characterization for a California native fish. Ecotoxicology 14: 597-606.
Paschall, J., M.F. Oleksiak, J. VanWye, J.L. Roach, A. Whitehead, K.J. Kolell, and D.L. Crawford (2004). FunnyBase: A systems level functional annotation of Fundulus ESTs for the analysis of gene expression. BMC Genomics 5:96.
Whitehead, A., K. Kuivila, J.L. Orlando, S.Kotelevtsev, and S.L. Anderson (2004). Genotoxicity in native fish associated with agricultural runoff events. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. 23(12): 2868–2877.
Whitehead, A., S.L. Anderson, K.M. Kuivila, J.L. Roach, and B. May (2003). Genetic variation among interconnected populations of Catostomus occidentalis: Implications for distinguishing impacts of contaminants from biogeographical structuring. Molecular Ecology 12: 2817-2833.
Hansen, L.J., J.A. Whitehead, and S.L. Anderson (2002). Solar UV radiation enhances the toxicity of arsenic in Ceriodaphnia dubia. Ecotoxicology 11: 279-287.
