Ecology & Conservation
Several of my current and past research projects have applications in ecology and conservation. My current research is focussed on the epigenetic mechanisms of behavioural plasticity and the role of plasticity in adaptation to new environments. This work uses a combination of fieldwork, laboratory (experimental and molecular), and bioinformatic techniques.
Epigenetic mechanisms of behavioural plasticity
Epigenetics are gene regulatory mechanisms that alter gene expression without altering the genetic code itself. These mechanisms offer a direct link between the environment and the genome that could underlie behavioural plasticity. DNA methylation is one of the most well studied epigenetic mechanisms and is known to be responsive in response to early-life environments and acute environmental shifts. Using Trinidadian guppies, I explore the relationship between DNA methylation and behavioural responses to acute and early-life predation stress.
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Collaborators: Dr. Simon Reader, Dr. Mélanie Guigueno
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Relevant publications:
Fox, J. A., Toure, M. W. , Heckley, A. , Fan, R., Reader, S., and Barrett, R. D. H. 2024. Insights into adaptive behavioural plasticity from the guppy model system. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2625.
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​Fox, J. A., Reader, S. M., and Barrett, R. D. H. Time scale of neural DNA methylation responses to predation stress in Trinidadian guppies. Submitted to: Molecular Ecology.
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Fox, J. A., Reader, S. M., Guigueno, M., and Barrett, R. D. H. Changes in grouping behaviour and DNA methylation patterns in response to early-life stress in Trinidadian guppies. Submitted to: Genome Biology and Evolution. ​​
Role of plasticity in adaptation to new environments
Understanding how phenotypic plasticity could hinder or facilitate population persistence during adaptation to new environments is important for predicting species responses to climate change. By leveraging a study system in which fish communities have undergone recent range shifts in response to climate change driven environmental shifts, I investigate how levels of gene expression plasticity shift over time. The study system I use is the Rwembaita Swamp System that contains populations of my two focal fish species across varying dissolved oxygen environments.
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Collaborators: Dr. Andrew Hendry, Dr. Lauren Chapman, Dr. David Hunt.
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Relevant publications:
Fox, J. A., Hunt, D. A. G. A., Hendry, A. P. , Chapman, L. J., Barrett, R. D. H. Counter-gradient variation in gene expression between fish populations facilitates colonization of low-dissolved oxygen environments. Molecular Ecology. http://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17419.​