Genotype to Phenotype to Fitness

Exeter University

Abstract Submission

Posters Only, Closing 9th November 2018

General Information

The power of selection, whether exercised by man or brought into play under nature through the struggle for existence and the consequent survival of the fittest, absolutely depends on the variability of organic beings. Without variability, nothing can be effected. 

Charles Darwin 1868

On behalf of the Genetics Society we extend a very warm invitation to the 2018 Autumn meeting Genotype to Phenotype to Fitness. The meeting will bring together researchers working with diverse genetic techniques across a multitude of systems, but who are nonetheless connected by a shared passion for understanding adaptive evolution.

** Registrations and abstracts for poster presentations open till 9th November 2018. **

*** Registration on the day is possible***

The meeting will have four themed open sessions over the two days, each featuring 2-3 of our invited speakers together with contributed talks and posters selected from abstracts submitted. In addition to the open sessions there will be an ECR symposium offering opportunities for early career researchers to present in an especially supportive environment. 

Session 1 – Genotype to Phenotype
We have an unprecedented array of tools for interrogating the genotype to phenotype map, including epigenetics, but how do genetic differences translate into fitness consequences for individuals or lineages?  What insights can we take from genetic studies of lab models, crops, livestock and wild populations?

Session2 – Constraint and Conflict
Phenotypes under selection are frequently not genetically independent, while individual genes can influence fitness through multiple, sometimes antagonistic, trait pathways.  this session will focus on the need to think about multivariate phenotypes, and evolutionary trade-offs (e.g. among traits, between sexes) arising from genetic architecture.

Session 3 -Genes in Environments
The fitness consequences of genetically determined phenotypes depend on the environment that they are expressed, in many interesting ways, from classical genotype-by-environment interactions, through to genetic mediation of social and/or ecological processes.

Session 4 – Micro to Macro
Bridging scales of biological organisations is frequently challenging for evolutionary genetics.  Do population specific studies studies and microevolutionary perspectives help us understand divergence among populations and species (or vice versa)?  What can we learn from studying the genetics of speciation and/or hybridisation?

Download a programme and abstract book.

This year, the Genetics Society can make a contribution towards childcare or other caring responsibility costs (up to £100), that can be used flexibly. Applications for these awards can be made AFTER completing the registration form.

Registration:

Full conference
Genetics Society Full Member  – £130.00
Genetics Society Postgraduate/Undergraduate member – £80.00
Non Member (academic – £230.00

Single day registration
Genetics Society Full Member – £75.00
Genetics Society Postgraduate/Undergraduate member – £50.00
Non Member (academic) –  £150.00

Gala dinner
All delegates – £35.00

If you want to register after 9th November, please contact us.

If you’re not a member and would like to join the Genetics Society in time to take advantage of reduced registration fees please complete this form.

Membership cost:
Full Member – £25.00
Postgraduate Member – £15.00
Undergraduate Member – £5.00
A discount of £5 is available to Full and Postgraduate members wishing to pay by Direct Debit.

To join the Society you will need to be nominated by a current member.  Simply contact Kay.Boulton@roslin.ed.ac.uk with your request.

Travel grants to attend the conference are available via Scheme (A) to those with the following membership status: undergraduate, Masters and PhD students, and postdoctoral scientists within three years of their PhD viva.

How to get there

Where to stay in Exeter

Deadline for submissions: Poster only, 31st October 2018

Meeting organisers:

Alastair Wilson (Exeter Universtity)
Kay Boulton (The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh)
Frank Hailer (Cardiff University)
Ben Longdon (Exeter University)
Helena Wells (King’s College London)

 

Speakers:

GENOTYPE to PHENOTYPE
Chris Jiggins (Cambridge)
Anne Charmantier (Montpellier, France)
Miltos Tsiantis (Max Planck, Cologne, Germany)

CONFILCT & CONSTRAINT
Katrina McGuigan (Queensland, Australia)
Susan Johnston (Edinburgh)
Nina Wedell (Exeter)

GENES IN ENVIRONMENTS
Edze Westra (Exeter)
Patrik Nosil (Sheffield)

MICRO TO MACRO
Matthew Webster (Uppsala, Sweden)
Walter Salzburger (Basel, Switzerland)