Heredity Podcast

Charles Darwin described it as the most complex mating system in the natural world. Famed statistician Ronald Fisher was fascinated by it. And this episode’s interviewees braved 40 °C heat and caimans to unravel some of its mysteries. What is it? Tristyly — a rare and mysterious plant mating system. Tune in to hear what Dr Nicolay Cunha and Prof. Spencer Barrett learnt about this system from the pickerel weeds of Brazil’s Pantanal.

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Behind the pages of Heredity there lies a group of incredibly dedicated, brilliant scientists—our editors! Who are they? What do they actually do? What kinds of research are they passionate about? What are they looking for in a good manuscript? These are the kinds of questions we are going to explore in a new series of episodes dedicated to these unsung heroes of scientific publishing. First up, we have Dr Alison Bentley, a crop specialist who leads a +40 group of researchers as Head of Genetics and Breeding at NIAB (National Institute of Agricultural Botany).

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In this episode we explore the nature vs. nurture debate in one of humanities closest companions – Dogs! Why do they do the things they do? Are their behaviours hardwired into their DNA? Tune in and listen to Dr Juliane Friedrich, Dr Pamela Wiener and Dr Marie Haskell as they discuss complex genetic behaviour traits in German shepherd dogs, collaborating with the Swedish Armed Forces, and how their research has shaped the way they view their own pets behaviour.

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The annual Population Genetics Group Forum is an important, and much beloved, conference in the fields of genetics and evolution. As registration opens for the 53 meeting of PopGroup (to be held at the University of Leicester, 5th – 8th January 2020), we hear what's in-store from three of the people organising it: Dr Rob Hammond, Dr Richard Badge and PhD student Max John. We then delve into the history of this wonderfully unique conference with three of its longest serving delegates: Prof. John Turner, Prof. Laurence Cook and Prof. John Brookfield.

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Fish farming, or aquaculture, is an important source of animal protein, particularly in developing nations. Unfortunately, aquaculture is highly susceptible to outbreaks of infectious disease. In this episode, Lior David and Roni Tadmor-Levi (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) discuss their work trying to identify the genetic basis of disease survival in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) when challenged with the koi herpes virus (Cyprinid herpesvirus 3).

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An essential aspect of life is reproduction, and an essential aspect of reproduction is sex... except when it isn't. While common in invertebrates, asexual reproduction is only seen in around 90 vertebrate species. And in this episode, Dr Susana Freitas (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) explains her work looking at the hybrid origin of parthenogenesis in what may be the best-studied asexual vertebrate—Darevskia lizards.

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Species are often thought of as discreet and separate from one another. However, hybrid zones often form between closely related species, providing the opportunity to test many evolutionary hypotheses. In this episode, we talk to Dr Henrique Batalha-Filho (Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil) and Dr Marcos Maldonado-Coelho (Lund University, Sweden) about their work characterising a hybrid zone between two spinetail bird species in the Atlantic rainforests of Brazil... we also hear from the birds themselves.

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The Faroe Islands are a North Atlantic archipelago, famed for being a Viking stronghold. However, for the past few centuries the islands have themselves been besieged by one of the world's greatest invaders: the brown rat. In this episode, Dr Emily Puckett (University of Memphis) and Dr Eyðfinn Magnussen (University of the Faroe Islands) discuss their recent paper looking at the current and historical population genetics of the brown rat. It's a story that takes us from 18th century shipwrecks right into the modern genomic era.

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How do you breed a high-production cow fit for a changing world? It's rare that we discuss the impact of climate change on cattle agriculture, yet it's important to consider how rising temperatures will impact this important part of the global food chain. In today's episode, Prof. Ismo Strandén, Prof. Juha Kantanen and Prof. Michael Bruford discuss a simulation-based approach for identifying optimal breeding strategies. It's an approach that may help produce a productive yet temperature resilient dairy cow by identifying the best way to mix the desirable genomic traits of both commercial and rare breed stocks.

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Collaboration is an essential aspect of modern science, and the authors featured in today's episode epitomise this relationship. In our most ambitions interview to date, all four first authors of a recent Heredity paper come together to discuss their work looking at range expansions in the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus). Their results provide a cautionary tale for researchers interpreting population genetic data, especially when dealing with potential meta-populations.

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