GECO Evolutionary and Computational Genomics
Bioinformatics, Phylogeny and Evolutionary Genomics Group
Segurel Laure
Chargée de recherche
CNRS
Batiment Mendel, 2ème étage. Bureau 12.025
Broad research interests : I am a CNRS researcher in population genetics, broadly interested in using genetic data to understand species evolution, more specifically to investigate how species adapt to their environment. During my PhD at the Musée de l'Homme with E Heyer and R Vitalis (UMR7206 - Paris), I worked in anthropological genetics, to decipher how various cultural features (matrimonial rules, language) shape the genetic diversity in Central Asia. I further worked on identifying selective pressures on various metabolic genes involved in adaptation to diet in herders and farmers from Central Asia. During my post-doc at UChicago with M Przeworski, I studied how recombination evolved between humans and chimpanzees, and across human populations, and I looked for signatures of balancing selection in humans and chimpanzees genomes. I also investigated what are the different determinants of neutral genetic diversity, as well as the factors influencing mutation rates. Since I got recruited at the CNRS in 2013 (UMR7206 - Paris), I continued working on human adaptation to changes in diet by studying lactase persistence using both modern and ancient DNA. In parallel, I am interested in understanding how humans and their associated microbes are co-evolving. Specifically, I developed a project in Cameroon to better understand how the human gut (and oral) microbiota evolved in response to changes in human diet, especially linked to the growing urbanisation and industrialisation of human populations. I am currently working at the LBBE (UMR5558 - Lyon) and developing projects on balancing selection (a mode of adaptation that maintains genetic diversity), to study its prevalence and underlying mechanisms both in primates and in birds, which have contrasted recombination landscapes and effective population sizes.
Publications
Display of 31 to 45 publications on 45 in total
Multiple Instances of Ancient Balancing Selection Shared Between Humans and Chimpanzees
Science . 339 ( 6127 ) : 1578-1582
Journal article
see the publicationPositive selection of protective variants for type 2 diabetes from the Neolithic onward: a case study in Central Asia
European Journal of Human Genetics . 21 ( 10 ) : 1146-1151
Journal article
see the publicationDifferent kinds of genetic markers permit inference of Paleolithic and Neolithic expansions in humans
Conférence Jacques Monod .
Poster
see the publicationA Fine-Scale Chimpanzee Genetic Map from Population Sequencing
Science . 336 ( 6078 ) : 193-198
Journal article
see the publicationThe ABO blood group is a trans-species polymorphism in primates
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 109 ( 45 ) : 18493 - 18498
Journal article
see the publicationRevisiting an Old Riddle: What Determines Genetic Diversity Levels within Species?
PLoS Biology . 10 ( 9 ) : e1001388
Journal article
see the publicationLactase persistence in central Asia: phenotype, genotype, and evolution.
Human Biology . 83 ( 3 ) : 379-92
DOI: 10.3378/027.083.0304
Journal article
see the publicationThe Case of the Fickle Fingers: How the PRDM9 Zinc Finger Protein Specifies Meiotic Recombination Hotspots in Humans
PLoS Biology . 9 ( 12 ) : e1001211
Journal article
see the publicationIn the heartland of Eurasia: the multilocus genetic landscape of Central Asian populations
European Journal of Human Genetics .
Journal article
see the publicationMode de vie et diversité génétique dans les populations humaines d'Asie Centrale
Thesis
see the publicationFrequency of the AGT Pro11Leu polymorphism in humans: Does diet matter?
Annals of Human Genetics . 74 ( 1 ) : 57-64
Journal article
see the publicationLooking for signatures of sex-specific demography and local adaptation on the X chromosome.
Genome Biology . 11 ( 1 ) : 203
Journal article
see the publicationGenetic diversity and the emergence of ethnic groups in Central Asia
BMC Genetics . 10 ( 1 ) : 49
Journal article
see the publicationSex-specific genetic structure and social organization in Central Asia: insights from a multi-locus study.
PLoS Genetics . 4 ( 9 ) : e1000200
Journal article
see the publication