Dr. Catherine Peichel

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Human Biology Division
Associate Member
University of Washington
College of Arts and Sciences
Biology Program
Affiliate Associate Professor
Professional Headshot of Catherine  Peichel

Mailing Address

1100 Fairview Ave. N.
Mailstop D4-100
Seattle, Washington 98109-1024
United States

Contact Information

Phone: (206) 667-1628
Fax: (206) 667-2917
cpeichel@fhcrc.org

Qualifications

Ph.D., Princeton University, Molecular Biology, 1998.
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1991.

Expertise and Research Interests

What is the genetic basis of morphological and behavioral variation between species? How do these differences lead to the formation of new species? In order to address these questions experimentally, we have developed the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a new genetic system. Threespine sticklebacks have evolved an incredible diversity of morphologies and behaviors in freshwater populations in the last 10,000 years, and we have the ability to cross virtually any two diverse populations of sticklebacks using artificial fertilization in the lab. Therefore, they are an ideal system to determine the number of genetic changes that control morphological and behavioral differences between species, to map the location of these changes, and to ultimately find the DNA sequence changes responsible for evolutionary modifications in vertebrates. In my postdoctoral work with David Kingsley, we developed the first genetic linkage map for the threespine stickleback and have shown that we can use this map to define chromosomal regions underlying many variable skeletal traits in the stickleback.

One area of intensive study in threespine sticklebacks is reproductive behavior and mate choice. Reproductive isolation is seen between natural stickleback populations due to differences in male morphologies and behavior, and corresponding changes in female preferences for these male traits. Research in my laboratory uses a forward genetic approach of genome-wide linkage mapping to identify the genes controlling variable morphologies and behaviors related to reproduction and mate choice. By identifying genes that control these traits, we hope to define the molecular pathways underlying speciation.

Although reproductive isolation between threespine stickleback populations is mostly due to pre-zygotic barriers such as behavioral differences, post-zygotic isolation does exist between species of sticklebacks in the Gasterosteidae family. One potential source of this post-zygotic isolation is differences in the sex chromosomes of these species. We have found a diversity of sex chromosome systems within the stickleback family. One of these neo-sex chromosome systems is found in one population of threespine sticklebacks and harbors loci important for behavioral isolation between sympatric stickleback populations. These data suggest that sex chromosome turnover might play an important role in stickleback speciation. Ongoing work is focusing on the identification of the sex-determining gene in threespine sticklebacks, a detailed sequence analysis of the threespine stickleback Y chromosome region, and uncovering the evolutionary forces that have led to the diversity of sex chromosome systems found in sticklebacks.

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Animal Behavior Or Ethology, Cancer Or Carcinogenesis, Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Human Ethology, Molecular Biology.

Additional Terms:

Behavior, Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Genomics.

Memberships

American Society of Naturalists
Genetics Society of America
Society for the Study of Evolution

Honors and Awards

2002, Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences,

Previous Positions

1998-2002, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Developmental Biology

Funding Received

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Genomic Basis of Vertebrate Diversity, 2007 to 2012.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH): Evolution of Sex Determination in Sticklebacks, 2004 to 2009.

Publications

  • Ross JA, Urton JR, Boland J, Shapiro MD, Peichel CL (2009) Turnover of sex chromosomes in the stickleback fishes, PLoS Genetics, 5, e1000391
  • Kitano J, Ross JA, Mori S, Kume M, Jones FC, Chan YF, Absher DM, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Myers RM, Kingsley DM, Peichel CL (2009) A role for a neo-sex chromosome in stickleback speciation, Nature, 461, 1079-1083
  • Ross JA, Peichel CL (2008) Molecular cytogenetic evidence of rearrangements on the Y chromosome of the threespine stickleback fish, Genetics, 179, 2173-2182
  • Kitano J, Bolnick DI, Beauchamp DA, Mazur MM, Mori S, Nakano T, Peichel CL (2008) Reverse evolution of armor plates in the threespine stickleback, Current Biology, 18, 769-774
  • Kitano J, Mori S, Peichel CL (2008) Divergence of male courtship displays between sympatric forms of anadromous threespine stickleback, Behaviour, 145, 443-461
  • Gow JL, Peichel CL, Taylor EB (2007) Ecological selection against hybrids in natural populations of sympatric sticklebacks, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20, 2173-2180
  • Coyle SM, Huntingford FA, Peichel CL (2007) Parallel evolution of Pitx1 underlies pelvic reduction in Scottish threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Journal of Heredity, 98, 581-586
  • Kitano J, Mori S, Peichel CL (2007) Phenotypic divergence and reproductive isolation between sympatric forms of Japanese threespine sticklebacks, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 91, 671-685
  • Kitano J, Mori S, Peichel CL (2007) Sexual dimorphism in the external morphology of the threespine stickleback, Copeia, 2007 (2), 336-349
  • Kingsley DM, Peichel CL (2007) The molecular genetics of evolutionary change in sticklebacks, Biology of the Three-Spined Stickleback, Boca Raton, CRC Press, 41-81 pages (bookchapter)
  • Gow JL, Peichel CL, Taylor EB (2006) Contrasting hybridization rates between sympatric threespine sticklebacks highlight the fragility of reproductive barriers between evolutionarily young species, Molecular Ecology, 15, 739-752
  • Kingsley D, Zhu B, Oseogawa K, deJong PJ, Schein J, Marra M, Peichel C, Amemiya C, Schluter D, Balabhadra S, Friedlander B, Cha YM, Dickson M, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Talbot WS, Myers R (2004) New genomic tools for molecular studies of evolutionary change in sticklebacks, Behaviour, 141, 1331-1344
  • Peichel CL, Ross JA, Matson CK, Dickson M, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Myers RM, Mori S, Schluter D, Kingsley DM, The master sex-determination locus in threespine sticklebacks is on a nascent Y chromosome, Current Biology, 14, 1416-1424, 24 Aug 2004
  • Colosimo PF, Peichel CL, Nereng K, Blackman BK, Shapiro MD, Schluter, D, Kingsley DM, The genetic architecture of parallel armor plate reduction in threespine sticklebacks, PLoS Biology, 2(5), 635-641, 2004
  • Shapiro MD, Marks ME, Peichel CL, Blackman BK, Nereng KS, Jonsson B, Schluter D, Kingsley DM, Genetic and developmental basis of evolutionary pelvic reduction in threespine sticklebacks, Nature, 428(6984), 717-23, 2004 Abstract
  • Peichel CL, Nereng KS, Ohgi KA, Cole BL, Colosimo PF, Buerkle CA, Schluter D, Kingsley DM, The genetic architecture of divergence between threespine stickleback species, Nature, 414(6866), 901-5, December 2001 Abstract
  • Spitz F, Gonzalez F, Peichel C, Vogt TF, Duboule D, Zakany J, Large scale transgenic and cluster deletion analysis of the HoxD complex separate an ancestral regulatory module from evolutionary innovations, Genes and Development, 15(17), 2209-14, September 2001 Abstract
  • Peichel CL, Kozak CA, Luyten FP, Vogt TF, Evaluation of mouse Sfrp3/Frzb1 as a candidate for the lst, Ul, and Far mutants on chromosome 2, Mammalian Genome: Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society, 9(5), 385-7, May 1998
  • Peichel CL, Prabhakaran B, Vogt TF, The mouse Ulnaless mutation deregulates posterior HoxD gene expression and alters appendicular patterning, Development (Cambridge, England), 124(18), 3481-92, September 1997
  • Peichel CL, Abbott CM, Vogt TF, Genetic and physical mapping of the mouse Ulnaless locus, Genetics, 144(4), 1757-67, December 1996 Abstract
  • Peichel CL, Vogt TF, Genetic and molecular analysis of the mouse Ulnaless locus, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 785, 314-7, June 1996 Abstract
  • Dreger RT, Harris MJ, Peichel CL, Vogt TF, Juriloff DM, The first arch (Far) mutation in mice recombines with Hoxd and Mdk, Mammalian Genome: Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society, 6(9), 662-3, September 1995
  • Peichel CL, Scherer SW, Tsui LC, Beier DR, Vogt TF, Mapping the midkine family of developmentally regulated signaling molecules, Mammalian Genome: Official Journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society, 4(11), 632-8, November 1993
  • Skoda RC, Seldin DC, Chiang MK, Peichel CL, Vogt TF, Leder P, Murine c-mpl: A member of the hematopoietic growth factor receptor superfamily that transduces a proliferative signal, The Embo Journal, 12(7), 2645-53, July 1993

Profile Details

Last Verified: 11/30/2009

COS Expertise ID #1094000
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