Becca Love

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: rlove1 (at) nd (dot) edu

Office: 357 Galvin Life Sciences

 

My research focuses on the detection and characterization of DNA insertions, deletions, and inversions. These classes of genomic variation often have significant functional impacts, but are typically understudied compared to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). I develop and use computational methods to understand the consequences of these multi-base pair polymorphisms in the Anopheles gambiae species complex. .

Current and past projects include:

Identifying markers for common polymorphic chromosomal inversions in An. coluzzii and An. gambiae, and developing methods for streamlined inversion detection

Characterizing the insertion-deletion variants (indels) of An. coluzzii and An. gambiae and their effects on coding sequence

Assembling the Abwa2 reference genome of An. bwambae, the only obligate saltwater tolerant species in the An. gambiae complex and one of two species in the complex lacking a published reference genome

Examining the role of chromosomal inversions in the ecotypic differentiation of the An. gambiae chromosomal form Bamako