The Meselson Laboratory
The Evolutionary Genetics of Ancient Asexuality

 
Some members of the lab gathered around a fossilized rotifer egg (probably Tyrannodina rotifera, from the Late Carboniferous, when giant rotifers ruled the earth).

 
Harvard logo Harvard Lab 

Matthew Meselson , Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor
of the Natural Sciences, Principle Investigator

Irina Arkhipova, Staff Scientist

Eugene Gladyshev, Graduate Student

Jae Hur, Graduate Student

Morgan Mandigo, Research Assistant

Zoya Omartian, Lab Administrator

Sandy Ropper, Archivist

Karine Van Doninck, Post-Doc

   MBL logo MBL Lab 

Matthew Meselson , Adjunct Scientist 

David Mark Welch , Staff Scientist 

Jessica Mark Welch , Postdoctoral Scientist 

Sarah Biber , Undergraduate Research Assistant
Recent Publications

Gladyshev, E., M. Meselson, I. Arkhipova. 2008. Massive horizontal gene transfer in Bdelloid rotifers. Science, 320: 1210-1215.

Gladyshev, E., M. Meselson (2008). Extraordinary resistance of Bdelloid rotifers to ionizing radiation. PNAS, 105: 5139-5144.

Mark Welch, D.B., J. Mark Welch, M. Meselson (2008). Evidence for degenerate triplody in Bdelloid rotifers. PNAS, 105: 5145-5149.

Meselson, M., D. Mark Welch (2007). Evolution. Stable heterozygosity? Science, 318: 202-203.

Hegreness, M., M. Meselson (2007). What did Sutton See? Thirty years of confusion over the chromosomal basis of Mendelism. Genetics 176: 1939-1944.

Gladyshev, E.A., M. Meselson and I.R. Arkhipova (2007). A deep-branching clade of retrovirus-like retrotransposons in bdelloid rotifers. Gene 390: 136-145.

Arkhipova, I.R. and M. Meselson (2005). Diverse DNA transposons in rotifers of the class Bdelloidea. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102: 11781-11786.

Arkhipova, I. and M. Meselson (2005). Deleterious transposable elements and the extinction of asexuals. Bioessays 27: 76-85.

Meselson, M. (2004). Explorations in the land of DNA and beyond. Nat Med. 10: 1034-1037.

Pyatkov, K.I., I.R.Arkhipova, N.V.Malkova, D.J.Finnegan and M.B.Evgen'ev (2004). Reverse transcriptase and endonuclease activities encoded by Penelope-like retroelements. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101: 14719-14724.

Mark Welch, D.B., M.P.Cummings, D.M Hillis and M. Meselson (2004). Divergent gene copies in the asexual class Bdelloidea (Rotifera) separated before the bdelloid radiation or within bdelloid families. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101: 1622-1625.

Mark Welch, J.L., D.B. Mark Welch and M.Meselson (2004). Cytogenetic evidence for asexual evolution of bdelloid rotifers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101: 1618-1621.

Meselson, M. (2003). Interview with Matthew Meselson. Bioessays 12: 1236-46.

Mark Welch D.B. and M. Meselson (2003) Oocyte nuclear DNA content and GC proportion in rotifers of the anciently asexsual Class Bdelloidea. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 79: 85-91.

Arkhipova, I.R., K.I. Pyatkov, M. Meselson and M.B. Evgen'ev (2003). Retroelements containing introns in diverse invertebrate taxa. Nature Genetics 33:123-124.

Arkhipova, I.R. and H. G. Morrison (2001).  Three retrotransposon families in the genome of Giardia lamblia: Two telomeric, one dead. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (USA) 98: 14497-14502. commentaries

Mark Welch, D. and M. Meselson (2001).  Rates of nucleotide substitution in sexual and anciently asexual rotifers.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (USA) 98: 6720-6724.

Mark Welch, D. and M. Meselson (2001).  A survey of introns in three genes of rotifers.  Hydrobiologia 446/447: 333-336.

Mark Welch, D. (2001).  Early contributions of molecular phylogenetics to understanding the evolution of Rotifera.  Hydrobiologia 446/447: 315-322.

Mark Welch, J. (2001).  Cytological evidence for the absence of meiosis in bdelloid rotifers.  Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University.

Arkhipova, I. and M. Meselson (2000).  Transposable elements in sexual and ancient asexual taxa.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 97: 14473-14477.        commentaries

Mark Welch, D. and M. Meselson (2000).  Evidence for the evolution of bdelloid rotifers without sexual recombination or genetic exchange. Science 288: 1211-1215.  supplemental information     commentaries

Mark Welch, D. (2000). Evidence from a protein-coding gene that acanthocephalans are rotifers. Invertebrate Biology 119: 17 - 26.

Mark Welch, D. (1999).  Evidence for the evolution of bdelloid rotifers without sexual recombination or genetic exchange.  Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard University.

Mark Welch, D. and M. Meselson (1998). Measurements of the genome size of the monogonont rotifer Brachionus plicatilis and of the bdelloid rotifers Philodina roseola and Habrotrocha constricta. Hydrobiologia 387/388: 395 - 402 .

Mark Welch, J. and M. Meselson (1998). Karyotypes of bdelloid rotifers from three families. Hydrobiologia 387/388: 403 - 407.

Arkhipova, I., Li, J. and M. Meselson (1997). On the mode of gene-dosage compensation in Drosophila. Genetics 145: 729 - 736.

Danilevskaya, O.N., Arkhipova, I.R., Traverse, K.L., and M.L. Pardue (1997). Promoting in tandem: The promoter for telomere transposon HeT-A and implications for the evolution of retroviral LTRs. Cell 88: 647 - 655.