Zoology

DEPARTMENT OF

David G. King

Associate Professor

Office: 2084 Life Science III
Phone: 618-453-1509
email: dgking@siu.edu

Education: B.S., Purdue University; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego

Courses taught: ZOOL 409 (Histology)

Areas of interest: Evolution, Neurobiology, Histology

How do complex behaviors and other evolutionary adaptations emerge from the molecular organization of cells and genomes? I address this question by asking another. How has selection shaped genetic patterns to constrain "random" mutational mechanisms, thereby reducing the risk of severely deleteriously mutation while increasing the probability of beneficial mutation? My recent work reviews evidence supporting a functional and evolutionary "tuning knob" role for tandem repetitive DNA.

For more information on my research program, please see my lab webpage.

Recent Publications

D.G. King and Y. Kashi (2007) Mutation rate variation in eukaryotes: evolutionary implications of site-specific mechanisms. Nature Reviews Genetics 8(11).

King, D.G. and Y. Kashi (2007) Indirect selection for mutability. Heredity 99: 122-123.

Kashi, Y. and D.G. King (2006) Simple sequence repeats as advantageous mutators in evolution. Trends in Genetics 22: 253-259.

King, D.G., E.N. Trifonov, and Y. Kashi (2006) Tuning knobs in the genome: Evolution of simple sequence repeats by indirect selection. In: Lynn H. Caporale, ed., The Implicit Genome, Oxford University Press.

Kashi Y and King DG (2006) Has simple sequence repeat mutability been selected to facilitate evolution? Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution 52: 331-342.