Dr. Amy Webster

Why individuals are different from each other is one of life's fundamental puzzles. A given individual's phenotype may be driven by a combination of genetic and present environmental conditions, along with prior environmental experiences, development, or other unknown causes. The epigenetic regulation of gene expression plays an intermediate functional role between genetic or environmental perturbations and organismal phenotypes. A major goal of our research is to understand the influence of genetic and environmental variation on epigenetic and gene expression changes, and in turn, how these changes shape important traits throughout the lifespan of individuals and impact the evolution of populations. We use both experimental and theoretical approaches to address these questions. For the experimental work, we primarily use the nematode C. elegans. See my lab website, linked above, for more information.

1. Webster AK, Willis JH, Johnson E, Sarkies P, Phillips PC. 2023. Epigenetic context predicts gene expression variation and reproductive traits across genetically identical individuals. bioRxiv. DOI: doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.13.562270. 2. Webster AK and Phillips PC. 2024. Heritable epigenetic variation facilitates long-term maintenance of epigenetic and genetic variation. G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics. 14(2). jkad287.