Daniel Barbash

Daniel Barbash is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. He is a member of the Graduate Fields of Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology, and Genetics, Genomics & Development. His research interests include molecular and genome evolution, speciation, and transposable element regulation.

Research Focus

Genetics and molecular evolution of interspecific hybrid incompatibilities; molecular evolution of rapidly evolving germ-line genes; transposable element dynamics

Teaching Focus

• Molecular Evolution

Selected Publications

• I. Said, M. P. McGurk, A. G. Clark, D. A. Barbash.  Patterns of piRNA regulation in Drosophila revealed through transposable element clade inferences. Mol Biol Evol 39: msab336, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab336 (2022).
• M.P. McGurk, A-M. Dion-Côté, D.A. Barbash. Rapid evolution at the telomere: transposable element dynamics at an intrinsically unstable locus. Genetics, 217:iyaa027. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyaa027 (2021).
• M.P. McGurk and D.A. Barbash. Double insertion of transposable elements provides a substrate for the evolution of satellite DNA. Genome Research 28: 714-725 (2018).
• K. H-C. Wei, S. E. Sander, I. V. Caldas, T. J. Sless, D. A. Barbash, A. G. Clark. Variable rates of simple satellite gains across the Drosophila phylogeny.  Mol Biol Evol, 35, 925-941 (2018).
• D. M. Castillo and D. A. Barbash.  Moving speciation genetics forward: modern techniques build on foundational studies in Drosophila. Genetics, 207, 825-842 (2017).
• K. H-C. Wei, H. M. Reddy, C. Rathnam, J. Lee, D. Lin, S. Ji, J. M. Mason, A. G. Clark and D. A. Barbash. A pooled sequencing approach identifies a candidate meiotic driver in Drosophila.  Genetics, 206, 451-465 (2017).
•  P.R.V. Satyaki, T. N. Cuykendall, K. H-C. Wei, N. J. Brideau, H. Kwak, S. Aruna, P. M. Ferree, S. Ji and D. A. Barbash. The Hmr and Lhr hybrid incompatibility genes suppress a broad range of heterochromatic repeats.  PLoS Genetics, 10, e1004240 (2014).