Greg Owens
@gregowens.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Victoria. Plant genomics and plant genomics jokes
Does anyone know of a method for testing GO enrichment in the context of the genome structure? For example, I have a highly significant GO category because my significant windows hit a cluster of 8 copies of a gene family. I could do a permutation, but seems like there must be a better way.
November 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Does anyone know of a method for testing GO enrichment in the context of the genome structure? For example, I have a highly significant GO category because my significant windows hit a cluster of 8 copies of a gene family. I could do a permutation, but seems like there must be a better way.
Reposted by Greg Owens
Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
Genomic architecture of egg mimicry and its consequences for speciation in parasitic cuckoos
Host-parasite arms races facilitate rapid evolution and can fuel speciation. Cuculus cuckoos are deceptive egg mimics that exhibit a broad diversity of counterfeit egg phenotypes, representing host-ad...
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
Reposted by Greg Owens
This was the product of a decade of work, led by Jochen Wolf @jochenwolflab.bsky.social) and kick-started by @frodefossoy.bsky.social & Bård Stokke, made possible by field teams from dozens of countries! @rytikerttunen.bsky.social @biosulc.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @gregowens.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
This was the product of a decade of work, led by Jochen Wolf @jochenwolflab.bsky.social) and kick-started by @frodefossoy.bsky.social & Bård Stokke, made possible by field teams from dozens of countries! @rytikerttunen.bsky.social @biosulc.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @gregowens.bsky.social
I want to highlight the weirdest neighbourhood in Greater Victoria. In Langford, if you take exit #15 you enter a 6-lane road surrounded by a classic mix of strip malls and big box stores. Nestled of all of this, accessible only through a parking lot, is a small street of 16 single family homes.
September 1, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I want to highlight the weirdest neighbourhood in Greater Victoria. In Langford, if you take exit #15 you enter a 6-lane road surrounded by a classic mix of strip malls and big box stores. Nestled of all of this, accessible only through a parking lot, is a small street of 16 single family homes.
Reposted by Greg Owens
Get your CVs updated. Zoology Department, University of Otago is hiring a Lecturer in Evolutionary Ecology!
@zoologyotago.bsky.social
otago.taleo.net/careersectio...
@zoologyotago.bsky.social
otago.taleo.net/careersectio...
Lecturer/Pūkenga - Evolutionary Ecology
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
otago.taleo.net
May 19, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Get your CVs updated. Zoology Department, University of Otago is hiring a Lecturer in Evolutionary Ecology!
@zoologyotago.bsky.social
otago.taleo.net/careersectio...
@zoologyotago.bsky.social
otago.taleo.net/careersectio...
Reposted by Greg Owens
Excited to see the final version of this paper with @samurscicop.bsky.social and Daniel Matute out in @genomebiolevol.bsky.social!
We took a dive into the complicated demographic history of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and its impact on the distribution of genetic diversity
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
We took a dive into the complicated demographic history of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and its impact on the distribution of genetic diversity
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
Demographic history, genetic load, and the efficacy of selection in the globally invasive mosquito Aedes aegypti
Abstract. Aedes aegypti is the main vector species of yellow fever, dengue, Zika and chikungunya. The species is originally from Africa but has experienced
doi.org
April 7, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Excited to see the final version of this paper with @samurscicop.bsky.social and Daniel Matute out in @genomebiolevol.bsky.social!
We took a dive into the complicated demographic history of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and its impact on the distribution of genetic diversity
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
We took a dive into the complicated demographic history of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and its impact on the distribution of genetic diversity
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
Reposted by Greg Owens
OK who's ready for some science?
Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you:
Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies"
Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds:
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you:
Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies"
Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds:
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
March 17, 2025 at 6:17 PM
OK who's ready for some science?
Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you:
Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies"
Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds:
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you:
Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies"
Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds:
doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Reposted by Greg Owens
Reposted by Greg Owens
With @katiejenike.bsky.social and a bunch more of our fellow k-mer enthusiasts, we put together a manuscript on k-mers in biodiversity genomics. A guide if you will, that covers k-mers from basics to some really funky stuff...
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/2...
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/2...
February 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
With @katiejenike.bsky.social and a bunch more of our fellow k-mer enthusiasts, we put together a manuscript on k-mers in biodiversity genomics. A guide if you will, that covers k-mers from basics to some really funky stuff...
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/2...
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/2...
Does anyone have an insight into why overhead rates are so different between US and Canada? Canadian rates are generally around 25%. Is it that Canada just provides more government base funding so they can accept lower overhead rates?
February 11, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Does anyone have an insight into why overhead rates are so different between US and Canada? Canadian rates are generally around 25%. Is it that Canada just provides more government base funding so they can accept lower overhead rates?
Reposted by Greg Owens
Excited to see our work on the cover of Current Biology this month!
Read about it in the thread below. 🧪🦑🌊
Read about it in the thread below. 🧪🦑🌊
February 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Excited to see our work on the cover of Current Biology this month!
Read about it in the thread below. 🧪🦑🌊
Read about it in the thread below. 🧪🦑🌊
My population isn’t working for QTL mapping. RIL issue.
Went to go buy some food for my pet whale but it was out of stock. Krill issue.
I've been having trouble getting peppercorns to grind finely enough.Mill issue.
January 19, 2025 at 5:31 AM
My population isn’t working for QTL mapping. RIL issue.
Excited to announce our work on kelp genomics is now out at Current Biology. Lead by Postdoc extraordinaire Jordan Bemmels, we sequence WGS for 600+ bull and giant kelp across BC and Washington. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kSP93QW8S...
January 17, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Excited to announce our work on kelp genomics is now out at Current Biology. Lead by Postdoc extraordinaire Jordan Bemmels, we sequence WGS for 600+ bull and giant kelp across BC and Washington. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kSP93QW8S...
Reposted by Greg Owens
Congrats to @jeffgroh.bsky.social et al on publication of "Ancient structural variants control sex-specific flowering time morphs in walnuts and hickories"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
January 2, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Congrats to @jeffgroh.bsky.social et al on publication of "Ancient structural variants control sex-specific flowering time morphs in walnuts and hickories"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Greg Owens
An intriguing new evolutionary story has just dropped, from my friend and colleague Leif Andersson: a discrete population of large predatory herring in the Baltic Sea, apparently in the process of evolving into a new species. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of fast-growing piscivorous herring in the young Baltic Sea - Nature Communications
The Atlantic herring is one of the world’s most abundant vertebrates and a typical plankton feeder of major ecological importance. This study shows that a piscivorous (fish-eating) ecotype of herring ...
www.nature.com
December 23, 2024 at 10:55 PM
An intriguing new evolutionary story has just dropped, from my friend and colleague Leif Andersson: a discrete population of large predatory herring in the Baltic Sea, apparently in the process of evolving into a new species. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Greg Owens
Genetic ancestry and population structure in the All of Us Research Program cohort https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.21.629909v1 🧬🖥️🧪
December 24, 2024 at 4:30 PM
Genetic ancestry and population structure in the All of Us Research Program cohort https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.21.629909v1 🧬🖥️🧪
Reposted by Greg Owens
OK folks this is my first announcement of a lab publication on Bluesky:
Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island."
Happy holidays!
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island."
Happy holidays!
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three‐Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island
This study explores population divergence and hybridization dynamics across the golden-backed (Dinopium benghalense) and red-backed (D. psarodes) flameback woodpecker hybrid zone in Sri Lanka. The ge...
doi.org
December 23, 2024 at 3:57 PM
OK folks this is my first announcement of a lab publication on Bluesky:
Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island."
Happy holidays!
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island."
Happy holidays!
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Reposted by Greg Owens
What do GWAS and rare variant burden tests discover, and why?
Do these studies find the most IMPORTANT genes? If not, how DO they rank genes?
Here we present a surprising result: these studies actually test for SPECIFICITY! A 🧵on what this means... (🧪🧬)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Do these studies find the most IMPORTANT genes? If not, how DO they rank genes?
Here we present a surprising result: these studies actually test for SPECIFICITY! A 🧵on what this means... (🧪🧬)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Specificity, length, and luck: How genes are prioritized by rare and common variant association studies
Standard genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and rare variant burden tests are essential tools for identifying trait-relevant genes. Although these methods are conceptually similar, we show by anal...
www.biorxiv.org
December 17, 2024 at 7:05 AM
What do GWAS and rare variant burden tests discover, and why?
Do these studies find the most IMPORTANT genes? If not, how DO they rank genes?
Here we present a surprising result: these studies actually test for SPECIFICITY! A 🧵on what this means... (🧪🧬)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Do these studies find the most IMPORTANT genes? If not, how DO they rank genes?
Here we present a surprising result: these studies actually test for SPECIFICITY! A 🧵on what this means... (🧪🧬)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Greg Owens
Excited to see this paper out! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Inversions contribute disproportionately to parallel genomic divergence in dune sunflowers - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Analysis of habitat data, quantitative trait locus mapping of seed size and selective sweeps show parallel selection acting on inversions in two independent dune ecotypes of the prairie sunflower, Hel...
www.nature.com
December 7, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Excited to see this paper out! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our lab is reading Hoffman et al this week in lab meeting. They look at inbreeding depression after an extreme bottleneck in northern elephant seals. 1/
Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Analysis of northern elephant seal populations shows no evidence of inbreeding depression, probably because a recent extreme bottleneck purged much of the genetic load.
www.nature.com
November 29, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Our lab is reading Hoffman et al this week in lab meeting. They look at inbreeding depression after an extreme bottleneck in northern elephant seals. 1/
"Before running structure, we applied a HWE filter to our SNP set"
November 28, 2024 at 5:34 PM
"Before running structure, we applied a HWE filter to our SNP set"
Optimist: the cup is 1/2 full
Pessimist: the cup is 1/2 empty
Bioinformatician: I'll know how full the cup is as soon as I can figure out my conda environment.
Pessimist: the cup is 1/2 empty
Bioinformatician: I'll know how full the cup is as soon as I can figure out my conda environment.
November 25, 2024 at 8:54 PM
Optimist: the cup is 1/2 full
Pessimist: the cup is 1/2 empty
Bioinformatician: I'll know how full the cup is as soon as I can figure out my conda environment.
Pessimist: the cup is 1/2 empty
Bioinformatician: I'll know how full the cup is as soon as I can figure out my conda environment.
While the experiment suggested by Reviewer 2 would help validate a key finding in the paper, I refer the editor to supplemental figure 5 which shows the degree to which I'm done with this paper (very) and how significantly I want to never look at it again (p <0.05).
November 23, 2024 at 4:09 AM
While the experiment suggested by Reviewer 2 would help validate a key finding in the paper, I refer the editor to supplemental figure 5 which shows the degree to which I'm done with this paper (very) and how significantly I want to never look at it again (p <0.05).
Some cute bird time for a stressful day.
November 5, 2024 at 7:56 AM
Some cute bird time for a stressful day.