Medical Ecology (EBIO 2010)

 

In the Never Summer Range. Photo by Ken Mitton

 

 

Research Interests

My primary research interests focus on the evolutionary forces that influence genetic variation within and among populations. DNA sequences of mitochondrial, chloroplast, and nuclear genes, and electrophoretic variation of proteins are used to characterize variation in populations of plants and animals. Phylogeographic studies are used to describe patterns of variation and to make historical inferences about glacial refugia and routes of migration.

I am particularly interested in three unique opportunities afforded by organellar genomes:

1) contrasting patterns of mtDNA and cpDNA in conifers; mtDNA is maternally inherited, and short dispersal, while cpDNA is paternally inherited and has potentially very long dispersal;

2) marine and freshwater mussels have two mitochondrial systems, one with maternal inhertance, one with paternal inheritance;

3) mistletoes, which are parasitic on conifers, have stolen some genes from their hosts, and incorporated it into their chloroplast genomes.

Current Research Projects

Phylogeographies of ponderosa pine, limber pine, pinyon pine, aspen, and mistletoe, using both mtDNA and cpDNA markers.

Conservation genetics of cutthroat trout and northern pocket gophers

Dual uniparental inheritance of mtDNA in mussels, and cryptic species of Brachidontes in the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Pacific

Horizontal gene flow between mistletoes and their host species of pines

 

Selected Publications

Columns in the Daily Camera

The Ribbon Forest on Buffalo Pass (Ribbon Forest, April 9, 2000) (Photos of ribbon forest)

Consuming Love (Black Widow, November 23, 2003) (Photos of black widows)

Poisonous Perfumes (Ponderosa Pine, July 7, 2000) (Photos of ponderosa pines)

Immense and Ancient Quaking Aspen (Quaking Aspen, September 10, 2000) (Photos of aspen, including Pando, the world's largest living organism)

Close Encounters With Moose (Moose, August 28, 2004) (Photos of a young bull moose)

The World of the Burying Beetles (Burying Beetles, December 3, 2004) (Photos of burying beetles)

Colorado's Top Predator (Puma, December 18, 2004)

Evolution: Hypothesis and Fact (Evolution, January 1, 2005)

A New Species Amid Ancient Fossils (twinpod, May 13, 2005) (Photos of Bell's twinpod)

History Buried in the Cliffs ( pawnee, May 27, 2005) (Photos of fossil teeth)

Tents of Silk (silk, June 10, 2005) (Photos of tent caterpillars)

Chemical ecology of lupines (lupines) (Photos of lupines)

State's largest fish a shadow of its former self (pikeminnow) (Photos of pikeminnow)

Thyme is of the essence (thyme, July 21, 2005) (Photos of thyme)

If These Rocks Could Talk... (Flatirons, December 9, 2005) (Photos of the Fountain Formation, and the Boulder Flatirons)

Microbes a Mile Down (DUSEL, September 9, 2005) (Photos of biologists sampling)

Spiral Trees on Windy Ridges (Spiral Grain, September 23, 2005) (Photos of limber pine with spiral grain)

Spider Crossing (Tarantula, December 23, 2005) (Photos of a Texas brown tarantula) hotos of a Texas brown tarantula)

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite (Cliff Swallow, November 24, 2005) (Photos of cliff swallow nests and chicks)

Foxes Learn City Ways (Red Fox, June 26, 2004) (Photos of red fox kits)

An Offensive Chemical Defense (Wild Bergamot, August 11, 2006) (Tortoise beetles and fecal shields)

Imitation Isn't Always Flattery (Swallowtail)

Recent Photos (Recent Photos)

Manuscripts and Book Chapters

 

Mitton, J. B. and M. C. Grant. 1984. Relationships among protein heterozysosity, growth rate, and developmental stability. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15: 479-499.

Mitton, J. B., W. S. F. Schuster, E. G. Cothran, and J. De Fries. 1993. The correlation in heterozygosity between parents and their offspring. Heredity 71: 59-63.

Mitton, J. B. 1994. Molecular approaches to population biology. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 25: 45-69.

Mitton, J. B., M. C. Grant, and A. M. Yoshino. 1998. Variation in allozymes and stomatal size in pinyon (Pinus edulis, Pinaceae), associated with soil moisture. Amer. J. Bot. 85: 1262-1265.

Latta, R. G. and J. B. Mitton. 1999. Historical separation and present gene flow through a zone of secondary contact in ponderosa pine. Evolution 53: 769-776.

Oline, D. and J. B. Mitton. 2000. Population and subspecific differentiation in Pinus balfouriana. Evolution 54: 1813-1819.

Carter, P.A., J. B. Mitton, T.D. Kocher, and J.R. Coehlo. 2000. Maintenance ofthe Adh polymorphism in tiger salamanders II. Differences in biochemical function among allozymes. Functional Ecology 14: 70-76.

Mitton, J. B. and K. L. Duran. 2004. Genetic variation in piñon pine, Pinus edulis, associated with summer precipitation. Mol. Ecol. 13: 1259-1264.