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Bio

Our primary research interest is in understanding the origins of novel genetic features in evolution. We particularly focus on gene and genome duplications (polyploidies) and on the computational modeling of their evolution. Our lab maintains POInT browse, a genome browser for polyploid genomes from across the tree of life (wgd.statgen.ncsu.edu).

Area(s) of Expertise

The Conant lab works on genome evolution, particular the evolution of duplicated genes, as well as on metagenomics.

Courses taught:
Fall: BIO592: Fundamentals of Bioinformatics
Spring: BIO310: Quantitative Approaches to Biological Problems.

Publications

• Quantitative Biology , CRC Press (2026)
• A Class of Allopolyploidy Showing High Duplicate Retention and Continued Homoeologous Exchanges , Genome Biology and Evolution (2025)
• A Reference-Quality NLRome for the Hexaploid Sweetpotato and Diploid Wild Relatives , Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (2025)
• Mesopolyploidy as a taxonomic clade marker for Brassica and relatives (tribe Brassiceae) , Annals of Botany (2025)
• Missing mate pairs reported as poly-G reads can confound analyses of rare members of microbial assemblages , Ecological Genetics and Genomics (2025)
• Comparative genomic analysis of thermophilic fungi reveals convergent evolutionary adaptations and gene losses , Communications Biology (2024)
• Gene expression bias between the subgenomes of allopolyploid hybrids is an emergent property of the kinetics of expression , PLoS Computational Biology (2024)
• Shared single copy genes are generally reliable for inferring phylogenetic relationships among polyploid taxa , Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2024)
• Complementing model species with model clades , The Plant Cell (2023)
• Interlocus Gene Conversion, Natural Selection, and Paralog Homogenization , Molecular Biology and Evolution (2023)

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