Michael S. Blouin
Associate Professor
B.A. U Virginia 1982; M.S. Florida
State
E-Mail:mailto:blouinm@science.oregonstate.edu
, Office Phone: 541-737-2362, Lab Phone: 737-4360 FAX: 541-737-0501,
Address: Department of Zoology,
I have diverse interests in basic and applied evolutionary genetics. I teach General Genetics (BI 311) , Population Genetics (Gen 530) and Evolution (Bi445). My past research focused on the genetic and environmental causes of variation in morphological and life-history traits of amphibians. The current emphasis of my lab is the use of molecular methods to study the genetic structure of populations of a variety of taxa. I have a particular interest in the use of microsatellite loci for pedigree reconstruction in natural populations (e.g. Blouin 2003). Some recent projects include:
Herps and fish Recent projects include using mtDNA and microsatellites to study gene flow and population structure in Cascades frogs (RanaCascade), spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa, Rana luteiventris), and leopard frogs (Rana pipiens), and studies on the selective maintenance of a color polymorphism in leopard frogs. We are also using microsatellites to reconstruct the pedigree of an entire population of steelhead trout (Onchorynchus mykiss) for purposes of comparing the relative reproductive success of hatchery and wild fish, and for studying what controls the effective sizes of these populations (project photos) Newspaper coverage in 2006 (Portland Oregonian)(Associated Press).
Parasite evolutionary genetics The population genetic structure of a parasite species has important implications for evolutionary processes such as host-race formation, adaptation to host defenses, and the evolution of drug resistance. Yet surprisingly little is known about the genetic structure of most parasite species, much less how variation among species in life cycle controls genetic structure. We use molecular methods to test hypotheses about the causes and consequences of genetic structuring within and between parasite populations. For example, recent work on trematodes includes testing hypotheses about host movement and gene flow between populations, about levels of genetic mixing between infrapopulations, and on what controls the selfing rate. Past work included studies on what controls gene flow in parasitic nematodes, and on the molecular evolution of mtDNA in helminthes. For a recent review of parasite molecular ecology see Criscione et al. (2005). We are currently collaborating with my colleague in Zoology, Chris Bayne, on a study of selection on loci in snails that are associated with resistance to schistosomes.
Current members of the lab
Becky Cooper (cooperb@science.oregonstate.edu) 541-737-4360 (lab telephone) Lab manager, technician.
Jacob Tennessen (:tennessj@science.oregonstate.edu) 541-737-4360. PhD student; inferring selection from DNA sequences. http://oregonstate.edu/~tennessj/
Ivan Phillipsen. (philliiv@science.oregonstate.edu) 541-737-4360. PhD student. Amphibian population genetics.
Hitoshi Araki (arakih@science.oregonstate.edu)
541-737-4360. Post Doc; salmon pedigree
project http://oregonstate.edu/~arakih/
Deb Finn (Finnd@science.oregonstate.edu) 541-737-4360; Post-Doc with Dave Lytle, phylogeography of aquatic insects
Eli – lab mascot
Salamander Candy – a student perspective on life
Recent students
Kirsten Monsen –(mailto:Kirsten.Monsen@wwu.edu) 973-655-4397.
PhD Fall 2002; genetic structure and conservation genetics of Cascades
frogs. Now Assistant Professor at
Eric
Hoffman (eahoffma@mail.ucf.edu)
407-823-4007. PhD Spring 2003; selection
on color polymorphism in leopard frogs; phylogeography and conservation
genetics of leopard frogs. Now Assistant
Professor at
Charles Criscione (ccriscio@darwin.sfbr.org) 210-258-9722. PhD Spring 2005. Parasite population genetics. Now post-doc with Tim Anderson at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio. To begin as Assistant Professor at Texas A&M, fall 2008.
Other alumni
Román Vilas Peteiro; Post Doc 2003-2005; parasite population genetics; Now
with Dept. Genética, Facultad de
Veterinaria, Campus de Lugo, 27002, Lugo, Spain. vilasr@usc.es
Selected Publications: (See also, COMPLETE LIST OF REFERENCES)
Araki, H., B. Cooper and M.S. Blouin. 2007. Genetic effects of captive breeding cause a rapid, cumulative fitness decline in the wild. Science, 318: 100-103. PDF
Araki, H., W.R. Ardren, E. Olsen, B. Cooper and M.S. Blouin.
2007. Reproductive success of captive-bred steelhead trout in the wild:
evaluation of three hatchery programs in the
Araki, H., R.S. Waples, W.R. Ardren, B. Cooper and M.S.
Blouin. 2007. Effective population size of steelhead trout: influence of
variance in reproductive success, hatchery programs, and genetic compensation
between life-history forms. Molecular
Ecology 16:953-966 PDF
Criscione, C.D., B. Cooper and M.S. Blouin. 2006. Parasite genotypes identify source populations of migratory fish more accurately than fish genotypes. Ecology 87:823-828. PDF
Araki, H. and M.S. Blouin. 2005. Unbiased estimation of relative reproductive success of different groups: evaluation and correction of bias caused by parentage assignment errors. Molecular Ecology, 13:4097-4109 PDF
Criscione, C.D. and M.S. Blouin. 2006. Minimal selfing, few clones, and no among-host genetic structure in a hermaphroditic parasite with asexual larval propagation. Evolution, 60:553-562. PDF
Criscione, C.D., R. Poulin and M.S. Blouin. 2005. Molecular ecology of parasites: elucidating ecological and microevolutionary processes. Molecular Ecology 14:2247-2257. PDF
Criscione, C.D. and M.S. Blouin. 2005. Effective sizes of macroparasite populations: a conceptual model. Trends in Parasitology 21: 212-217. PDF
Hoffman, E.A., F.W. Schueler and M. S. Blouin. 2004. Effective population sizes and temporal stability of genetic structure in Rana pipiens, the Northern leopard frog. Evolution 58:2536-2545. PDF
Monsen, K.J. and M.S. Blouin. 2004. Extreme isolation by distance in the Cascades frog, Rana cascadae. Conservation Genetics 5:827-835. PDF.
Criscione, C.D. and M.S. Blouin. 2004. Life cycles shape parasite evolution: comparative population genetics of salmon trematodes. Evolution 58:198-202. PDF
Blouin, M.S. 2003. DNA-based methods for pedigree reconstruction and kinship analysis in natural populations. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18: 503-511. PDF
Blouin, M.S., J. Liu and R.E. Berry. (1999). Life
cycle variation and the genetic structure of nematode populations. Heredity
83:253-259. PDF
Blouin,
Blouin, M.S., M. Parsons, V. Lacaille, and
Blouin, M.S., C.A. Yowell, C.H. Courtney and J.B. Dame (1995) Host movement and the genetic structure of populations of parasitic nematodes. Genetics 141: 1007-1014. PDF
Blouin, M.S. (1992) Genetic correlations among morphometric traits and rates of growth and differentiation in the green tree frog, Hyla cinerea. Evolution 46: 735-744. PDF
Blouin, M.S., and M.L.G. Loeb (1991) Effects of environmentally-induced development rate variation on head and limb morphology in the green tree frog, Hyla cinerea. American Naturalist 138: 717-728. PDF
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