糖心原创

School of Life Sciences
 

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Angus Davison

Professor of Evolutionary Genetics & Head of COMGEN Division, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

BSc Imperial College, London (1989); PhD University of Edinburgh (1994); Postgraduate certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), 糖心原创 (2008).

Research Assistant, University of Leeds (1995); Postdoctoral Research Assistant, 糖心原创 (1996-2000); Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow, Tohoku University Japan (2001-03); Royal Society of London Research Fellow, Universities of Edinburgh and Nottingham (2003-05); Lecturer, 糖心原创 (2004-2012); Reader in Evolutionary Genetics (2013-2021); Professor of Evolutionary Genetics (from Jan 1st 2022)

Natural Environment Research Council peer review college and panel member, 2006-2009. Associate Editor, Molecular Ecology, 2006-present. Deputy School Safety Officer 2006-2010. Biology Careers Officer 2010-present. School representative for Public Engagement 2019-present. Senior Tutor for Biology degrees 2021-present.

Teaching Summary

Senior tutor for Biology degrees (Biology, Zoology, Genetics)

Conservation Genetics (LIFE3011)

Evolutionary Biology of Animals (LIFE2046)

Higher Skills in the Biological Sciences (LIFE2068)

Research Summary

In my lab, we use snails as a comparative model to understand evolutionary and developmental genetics. In one project, we are using snails to understand the left-right symmetry breaking event that… read more

Selected Publications

  • DAVISON, ANGUS, MCDOWELL, GARY S., HOLDEN, JENNIFER M., JOHNSON, HARRIET F., KOUTSOVOULOS, GEORGIOS D., LIU, M. MAUREEN, HULPIAU, PACO, VAN ROY, FRANS, WADE, CHRISTOPHER M., BANERJEE, RUBY, YANG, FENGTANG, CHIBA, SATOSHI, DAVEY, JOHN W., JACKSON, DANIEL J., LEVIN, MICHAEL and BLAXTER, MARK L., 2016. Formin Is Associated with Left-Right Asymmetry in the Pond Snail and the Frog: Current Biology Current Biology. 26(5), 654-660
  • RICHARDS, P.M., LIU, M.M., LOWE, N., DAVEY, J.W., BLAXTER, M.L. and DAVISON, A., 2013. Molecular Ecology. 22(11), 3077-3089
  • ARMOUR, J. A. L., DAVISON, A and MCMANUS, I C, 2014. Heredity. 112, 221-225

Current Research

In my lab, we use snails as a comparative model to understand evolutionary and developmental genetics. In one project, we are using snails to understand the , using both lab and field-based studies: just how is chirality determined at the molecular level? In another project, we are investigating the , using the charismatic snail Cepaea. Finally, as snails are one of the most speciose groups, we are using new technologies to understand how this biodiversity has come about, by investigating a model adaptive radiation of snails in subtropical Japan (Ogasawara). All of these projects are technology led: new DNA sequencing techniques are enabling us to do what was not possible only a few years ago. There are also a number of other projects - research on conservation genetics (of mustelids, wolves, hyenas) has been particularly fruitful because it links in to the Conservation Genetics course that I teach.

A wide range of techniques are used, including the latest next generation DNA sequencing methods (Illumina, RAD sequencing), field work, mathematical models, phylogenetics and bioinformatics. Research in the lab is largely funded by BBSRC research grant, with further contributions from The Royal Society, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, Daiwa Anglo Japanese foundation and the Genetics Society.

Downloads of my publications are available from my website, . PhD studentships are advertised on

Unwinding snail chirality

We are all asymmetric - not just left or right handed in how we write, but fundamentally, inside our bodies. So are frogs, fish and snails - being left/right asymmetric appears to be the rule in animals. However, it is not at all clear how the left/right axis is consistently set up, such that while animals are always asymmetric, they are asymmetric in the same direction (e.g. heart on the left), except in very rare circumstances. In comparison, while the majority of snails are invariable like ourselves, inherited variation in shell coiling and body asymmetry, or chirality, occurs in 1-10% of all species. While components of the pathway that establishes left-right asymmetry have been identified in diverse animals, from vertebrates to flies, it is striking that the genes involved in the first symmetry-breaking step have long remained wholly unknown in these most obviously chiral animals. In a , with myself leading an international collaboration involving researchers from Universities in Scotland, Germany and the USA, we have shown that variation in a cytoskeletal protein (the cell scaffold) is perfectly associated with symmetry-breaking in the pond snail, creating either right (dextral) or left (sinistral) coiling snails. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, we discovered asymmetric gene expression in very early (2 cell) snail embryos, preceding morphological asymmetry, and that the same gene has a similar function in vertebrates. Taken together these results overturn the thinking that diverse species initiate left-right patterning differently, and are instead consistent with the view that animals, from invertebrate snails to vertebrate frogs, may derive their asymmetries from the same intracellular chiral elements.

  • DAVISON, ANGUS, 2020. Flipping Shells! Unwinding LR Asymmetry in Mirror-Image Molluscs. Trends in genetics : TIG.
  • KIM KW, JACKSON BC, ZHANG H, TOEWS DPL, TAYLOR SA, GREIG EI, LOVETTE IJ, LIU MM, DAVISON A, GRIFFITH SC, ZENG K and BURKE T, 2019. Nature communications. 10(1), 1852
  • DAVISON A, JACKSON HJ, MURPHY EW and READER T, 2019. Heredity. 123(2), 162-175
  • GONZALEZ DR, ARAMENDIA AC and DAVISON A, 2019. Heredity. 123(2), 153-161
  • SWART, E.M, DAVISON, A, ELLERS, J, FILANGIERI, R.R, JACKSON, D.J, MARIEN, J, VAN DER OUDERAA, I.B.C, ROELOFS, D and KOENE, J.M, 2019. 85(2), 177-183
  • GECCHELE, LISA V., BREMNER-HARRISON, SAMANTHA, GILBERT, FRANCIS, SOULTAN, ALAAELDIN, DAVISON, ANGUS and DURRANT, KATE L., 2017. Journal of Arid Environments. 141, 16-24
  • KAJTOCH, 艁UKASZ, DAVISON, ANGUS, GRINDON, ADELE, DELI, TAM脕S, SRAMK脫, G脕BOR, GWARDJAN, MARIUSZ, KRAMARENKO, SERGEI, MIERZWA-SZYMKOWIAK, DOMINIKA, RUTA, RAFA艁, 艢CIBIOR, RADOS艁AW, T脫TH, J脕NOS P脕L, WADE, CHRIS, KOLASA, MICHA艁, EGOROV, ROMAN V. and FEH脡R, ZOLT脕N, 2017. Organisms Diversity & Evolution.
  • RICHARDS, PAUL M., MORII, YUTA, KIMURA, KAZUKI, HIRANO, TAKAHIRO, CHIBA, SATOSHI and DAVISON, ANGUS, 2017. Evolution Letters. 1(6), 282-291
  • DAVISON, ANGUS, MCDOWELL, GARY S., HOLDEN, JENNIFER M., JOHNSON, HARRIET F., KOUTSOVOULOS, GEORGIOS D., LIU, M. MAUREEN, HULPIAU, PACO, VAN ROY, FRANS, WADE, CHRISTOPHER M., BANERJEE, RUBY, YANG, FENGTANG, CHIBA, SATOSHI, DAVEY, JOHN W., JACKSON, DANIEL J., LEVIN, MICHAEL and BLAXTER, MARK L., 2016. Formin Is Associated with Left-Right Asymmetry in the Pond Snail and the Frog: Current Biology Current Biology. 26(5), 654-660
  • MORII, YUTA, YOKOYAMA, JUN, KAWATA, MASAKADO, DAVISON, ANGUS and CHIBA, SATOSHI, 2015. Evidence of introgressive hybridization between the morphologically divergent land snails Ainohelix and Ezohelix: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 115(1), 77-95
  • ARMOUR, J. A. L., DAVISON, A and MCMANUS, I C, 2014. Heredity. 112, 221-225
  • DAWSON, TAYLOR F., BOONE, ADRIENNE N., SENATORE, ADRIANO, PITICARU, JOSHUA, THIYAGALINGAM, SHANO, JACKSON, DANIEL, DAVISON, ANGUS and SPAFFORD, J. DAVID, 2014. Gene Splicing of an Invertebrate Beta Subunit ( LCav beta) in the N-Terminal and HOOK Domains and Its Regulation of LCav1 and LCav2 Calcium Channels: Plos One PLOS One. 9(4),
  • LIU, M. M., DAVEY, J. W., JACKSON, D. J., BLAXTER, M. L. and DAVISON, A., 2014. A conserved set of maternal genes? Insights from a molluscan transcriptome: International Journal of Developmental Biology International Journal of Developmental Biology. 58, 501-511
  • RICHARDS, P.M., LIU, M.M., LOWE, N., DAVEY, J.W., BLAXTER, M.L. and DAVISON, A., 2013. Molecular Ecology. 22(11), 3077-3089
  • MCMANUS, IC, DAVISON, A and ARMOUR, JAL, 2013. Multi-locus genetic models of handedness closely resemble single-locus models in explaining family data and are compatible with genome-wide association studies Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1288(1), 48 - 58
  • GRINDON, A.J. and DAVISON, A., 2013. PLoS ONE. 8(6), e65792
  • LIU, M.M., DAVEY, J.W., BANERJEE, R., HAN, J., YANG, F., ABOOBAKER, A., BLAXTER, M.L. and DAVISON, A., 2013. PLoS One. 8(8), e71067
  • BOURKE, B, FRANTZ, A, LAVERS, C, DAVISON, A and DAWSON, D. AND BURKE, T., 2010. Genetic signatures of population change in the British golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Conservation Genetics. 11,
  • BOURKE, B. P., FRANTZ, A. C., LAVERS, C. P., DAVISON, A., DAWSON, D. A. and BURKE, T. A., 2010. A spatial and temporal analysis of genetic variation among golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the British Isles Conservation Genetics. 11, 1837-1846
  • RICHARDS, P. M. and DAVISON, A., 2010. Current Biology. 20(1), R28-R29
  • BOURKE, BRIAN P., FRANTZ, ALAIN C., LAVERS, CHRISTOPHER P., DAVISON, ANGUS, DAWSON, DEBORAH A. and BURKE, TERRY A., 2010. CONSERVATION GENETICS. 11(5), 1837-1846
  • DAVISON, A., FREND, H.T., MORAY, C., WHEATLEY, H., SEARLE, L.J. and EICHHORN, M.P., 2009. Biology Letters. 5(1), 20-22
  • DAVISON, A., 2009. . In: GILLESPIE, R. G. and CLAGUE, D. A., eds., Encyclopedia of Islands University of California Press. 785-787. (In Press.)
  • CHIBA, S. and DAVISON, A., 2009. Paleontological Research. 13, 151-157
  • DAVISON, A., BLACKIE, R.L.E. and SCOTHERN, G.P., 2009. Molecular Ecology Resources. 9, 1092-1101
  • DAVISON, A., BARTON, N.H. and CLARKE, B., 2009. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 22(8), 1624-1635
  • DAVISON, A., CONSTANT, N., TANNA, H., MURRAY, J. and CLARKE, B., 2009. Heredity. 103, 268鈥�278
  • PREECE, T., MAO, Y., GARRAHAN, J.P. and DAVISON, A., 2009. American Naturalist. 173(5), 632鈥�639
  • CHIBA, S. and DAVISON, A., 2008. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 74, 373-382
  • DAVISON, A. and CHIBA, S., 2008. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 363(1508), 3391鈥�3400
  • WADE, C.M., HUDELOT, C., DAVISON, A. and MORDAN, P.B., 2007. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 73, 411-415
  • CHIBA, S. and DAVISON, A., 2007. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 91, 149鈥�159
  • CHIBA,S., DAVISON,A. and MORI,H., 2007. Pacific Science. 61(2), 257-265
  • SCHILTHUIZEN, M., CRAZE, P.G., CABANBAN, A.S., DAVISON, A., STONE, J., GITTENBERGER, E and SCOTT, B.J., 2007. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 20, 1941鈥�1949
  • DAVISON, A. and MORDAN, P., 2007. American Malacological Bulletin. 23, 173-181
  • DAVISON, A. and CHIBA, S., 2006. Molecular Ecology. 15(10), 2905-2919
  • DAVISON, A., 2006. BioEssays. 28(6), 642-650
  • DAVISON, A. and CHIBA, S., 2006. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. VOL 88(NUMBER 2), 269-282
  • DAVISON, A., WADE, C.M., MORDAN, P.B. and CHIBA, S., 2005. Journal of Zoology. 267(4), 329-338
  • DAVISON, A., CHIBA, S., BARTON, N.H. and CLARKE, B., 2005. Public Library of Science Biology. 3(9), 1559-1571
  • DAVISON, A. and BLAXTER, M., 2005. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 22(5), 1273-1284
  • DAVISON, A. and BLAXTER, M. L., 2005. Parasitology (Cambridge). VOL 130(PART 5), 539-552
  • SCHILTHUIZEN, M. and DAVISON, A., 2005. Naturwissenschaften. VOL 92(NUMBER 11), 504-515
  • MICHAUX, J. R., HARDY, O. J., JUSTY, F., FOURNIER, P., KRANZ, A., CABRIA, M., DAVISON, A., ROSOUX, R. and LIBOIS, R., 2005. Molecular Ecology. VOL 14(NUMBER 8), 2373-2388
  • FLANAGAN, N.S., TOBLER, A., DAVISON, A., PYBUS, O.G., KAPAN, D.D., PLANAS, S., LINARES, M., HECKEL, D. and MCMILLAN, W.O., 2004. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 101(26), 9704-9709
  • MICHAUX, J. R., LIBOIS, R., DAVISON, A., CHEVRET, P. and ROSOUX, R., 2004. Biological Conservation. VOL 115(NUMBER 3), 357-367
  • BIRKS,J., MESSENGER,J., BRAITHWAITE,T., DAVISON,A., BROOKES,R. and STRACHAN,C., 2004. . In: HARRISON,D.J., FULLER,A.K. and PROULX,G, eds., Martens and fishers (Martes) in human-altered environments: an international perspective New York: Springer. 235-252
  • DAVISON, A., CHIBA, S. and KAWATA, M., 2004. Molecular Ecology Notes. VOL 4(NUMBER 3), 423-425
  • TESHIMA, H., DAVISON, A., KUWAHARA, Y., YOKOYAMA, J., CHIBA, S., FUKUDA, T., OGIMURA, H. and KAWATA, M., 2003. Molecular Ecology. VOL 12(PART 7), 1869-1878
  • KYLE, C. J., DAVISON, A. and STROBECK, C., 2003. Conservation Genetics. VOL 4(NUMBER 2), 179-188
  • DAVISON,A. and CHIBA,S., 2003. Molecular Ecology Notes. 3(2), 321-323
  • FLANAGAN, N. S., BLUM, M. J., DAVISON, A., ALAMO, M., ALBARRAN, R., FAULHABER, K., PETERSON, E. and MCMILLAN, W. O., 2002. Molecular Ecology Notes. VOL 2(PART 4), 398-401
  • DAVISON, A., BIRKS, J. D. S., BROOKES, R. C., BRAITHWAITE, T. C. and MESSENGER, J. E., 2002. Journal of Zoology. VOL 257(PART 2), 141-144
  • DAVISON,A., 2002. Population Ecology. 44(3), 129-136
  • BIRKS,J.D., DAVISON,A., JERMYN,D.L., KITCHENER,A.C. and SHORE,R.F., 2001. Polecat recovery - a multidisciplinary study. In: BIRKS,J.D.S. and MACMILLAN,H.J., eds., The Vincent Wildlife Trust Review 1997-2000 Ledbury: The Vincent Wildlife Trust. 25-27
  • BIRKS,J.D., BRAITHWAITE,T.C., BROOKES,R.C., DAVISON,A., GOUGH,M.C., MESSENGER,J.E. and STRACHAN,C., 2001. Detecting pine martens in England and Wales. In: BIRKS,J.D.S. and MACMILLAN,H.J., eds., The Vincent Wildlife Trust Review 1997-2000 Ledbury: The Vincent Wildlife Trust. 28-31
  • DAVISON,A., 2001. Nature. 412(6850), 855-855
  • DAVISON, A, BIRKS, J D, BROOKES, R C, MESSENGER, J E and GRIFFITHS, H I, 2001. Molecular Ecology. 10(10), 2479-88
  • DAVISON, A., BIRKS, J.D.S., MARAN, T., MACDONALD, D.W., SIDOROVICH, V., GRIFFITHS, H.I. and BUTLIN, R.K., 2000. Conservation implications of hybridization between polecats, ferrets and European mink (Mustela sp.). In: GRIFFITHS, H. I., ed., Mustelids in a modern world: management and conservation aspects of small carnivore - human interactions Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  • DAVISON, A., GRIFFITHS, H.I. and BROOKES, R.C. ET AL., 2000. Animal Conservation. 3, 345-355
  • KRYSTUFEK, B., DAVISON, A. and GRIFFITHS, H.I., 2000. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 78, 1616-1625
  • DAVISON, A. and CLARKE, B.C., 2000. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 267, 1399-1405
  • DAVISON, A., 2000. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 70, 697-706
  • DAVISON, A, 2000. JOURNAL OF MOLLUSCAN STUDIES. 66, 143-147
  • DAVISON, A, 1999. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY. 8(10), 1760-1761
  • DAVISON, A, BIRKS, JDS, GRIFFITHS, HI, KITCHENER, AC, BIGGINS, D and BUTLIN, RK, 1999. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION. 87(2), 155-161
  • DAVISON, A, MCMILLAN, WO, GRIFFIN, AS, JIGGINS, CD and MALLET, JLB, 1999. BIOTROPICA. 31(4), 661-668
  • DAVISON, A and LEACH, DRF, 1994. NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH. 22(21), 4361-4363
  • DAVISON, A and LEACH, DRF, 1994. THE EFFECTS OF NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE CHANGES ON DNA SECONDARY STRUCTURE FORMATION IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI ARE CONSISTENT WITH CRUCIFORM EXTRUSION IN-VIVO GENETICS. 137(2), 361-368

School of Life Sciences

糖心原创
Medical School
Queen's Medical Centre
Nottingham NG7 2UH

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