The Olito Lab

The lab is expanding! We are recruiting people interested in genomics, bioinformatics, and evolutionary transitions to dioecy in flowering plants (M.Sc., PhD, & Postdoc). Take a look at the Opportunities page and contact me for more info!

I am an evolutionary geneticist with a special interest in understanding the evolution of angiosperm reproductive diversity and the evolutionary consequences of sex-specific selection for species without separate sexes. Most of the research in my lab is inspired by the outrageous diversity of flowering plant reproductive traits, mating systems, sexual systems, and ploidy variation. Some of the questions we seek to address include:

1. How, and why have separate sexes evolved from hermphroditism so many times in flowering plants?
2. What population genetic mechanisms underly the evolution of recombination, especially between sex chromosomes?
3. What are the population genetic consequences of sex-specific selection for non-traditional organisms (i.e., not internally fertilizing gonochorists!)
4. What are the demographic consequences of sex-specific selection and major transitions in angiosperm reproductive systems?
5. What are the population genetic consequences of genome structural evolution?

You can find more information about current projects in the Research and Opportunities pages

On the pages of this website you can find information about current research happening in the lab, news, publications, collaborators, teaching information, and some cool photos of work/play.

Contact Info:
Department of Biology
Section for Evolutionary Ecology
Lund University,
Solvegatan 37
223 62 Lund, Sweden
email: colin.olito@biol.lu.se