Lila Maladesky

I study sex determination and sex chromosomes in flowering plants. In particular, I am interested in understanding how genes in the sex chromosomes behave and how they shapes the evolution of species.

My PhD project is about a group of plants from Hawaii (genus Wikstroemia) that have recently evolved genetic sex determination. I want to understand which region in their DNA is controlling sex determination and what these genes are doing. I am particularly interested in comparing different species, to see if it is the same genes that control sex determination or not, and how this is related to the way these plants colonized Hawaii.

Before my PhD, I studied sex chromosomes in different groups of animals, like beetles, shrimps, and monkeys. It was because of the big differences found between these systems that I became interested in the evolution of sex chromosomes in a broader perspective.