Background

Human activities are resulting in ever increasing levels of environmental stress, from habitat fragmentation and the use of toxic chemicals, to climate change resulting from global warming. Stressful environmental conditions are likely to be a major factor in determining the distribution and evolution of species, yet we know very little about the mechanisms by which species cope with and adapt to such conditions. My research addresses the following questions: What evolutionary mechanisms are involved in the processes of adaptation to environmental change? How do organisms adapt to changing environments? Are there limits to their ability to adapt to such change?

I use a combination of evolutionary genomic and quantitative genetic approaches, working primarily with Drosophila species, to examine the link between genomic, phenotypic and environmental variation and evolutionary change. This allows me to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between the environment and organisms’ genes, which in turn provides an understanding of the processes of adaptation to changing environments. This information is central to understanding how species will cope with climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and the use of agricultural chemicals.

Core research program

My current research program focuses on the processes and mechanisms that link variability in the phenotype to variability at the genomic level.  It has been shown that genetic variability can be masked by developmental processes.  Mechanisms that regulate the expression of genetic variability have the potential to influence evolutionary change. Despite the fundamental importance of phenotypic variability to adaptive evolution, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the genetic regulation of phenotypic variability remain unknown.  My research aims to examine the link between the major heat shock protein Hsp90 and the control and expression of variation underlying evolutionary change. This will allow me to determine the extent to which the major heat shock protein Hsp90 acts as a capacitor of evolutionary change.

Publications

Kellermann, V.M, van Heerwaarden, B, Hoffmann, A.A. and Sgrò, C.M. Very low additive genetic variance and evolutionary potential in multiple populations of two rainforest Drosophila species. Evolution 60(5): 1104-1108
 
Sgrò, C.M., Magiafoglou,A., Faine, L. and Hoffmann, A.A.. (2006). Absence of clinal variation in virgin retention capacity in Australian Drosophila melanogaster. Evolutionary Ecology 20: 407-413

Sgrò C.M. and Hoffmann A.A. (2004).
Genetic correlations, tradeoffs and environmental variation
Heredity 93 (3): 241-248

Hoffmann A.A., Sgrò C.M. and Weeks A.R. (2004). Chromosomal inversion polymorphisms and adaptation.  Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19 (9): 482-488 

Sgrò C.M., Blows M.W. (2004). The genetic covariance among clinal environments after adaptation to an environmental gradient in Drosophila serrata
 Genetics 167 (3): 1281-1291

Mair W, Sgrò C.M., Johnson AP, and Partridge, L. (2004).
Lifespan extension by dietary restriction in female Drosophila melanogaster is not caused by a reduction in vitellogenesis or ovarian activity
Experimental Gerontology 39 (7): 1011-1019

Sgrò C.M., Blows M.W. (2003). Evolution of additive and nonadditive genetic variance in development time along a cline in Drosophila serrata.
 Evolution 57 (8): 1846-1851.

Woods, R., C. M. Sgrò, M. Hercus and A. A. Hoffmann. 2002. Fluctuating asymmetry, fecundity and development time in Drosophila: is there an association under optimal and stress conditions. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 15: 146-158.

Sgrò, C.M. and L. Partridge. 2001.  Laboratory adaptation of life history in Drosophila. American Naturalist 158: 657-658.

Sgrò, C.M. G. Geddes, K. Fowler and L. Partridge. 2000. Remating frequency as a correlated response to selection for lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 54: 2152-2155.

Sgrò, C.M and L. Partridge. 2000. Evolutionary response of the life history of wild-caught Drosophila melanogaster to two standard methods of laboratory culture. American Naturalist, 156 (4): 341-353.

Woods, R.E., Sgrò, C.M., Hercus, M.J. and A.A. Hoffmann.  1999.  The association between fluctuating asymmetry, trait variability, trait heritability and stress: a multiply-replicated experiment on combined stress in Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 53: 493-505.

Sgrò, C.M and L. Partridge. 1999. A delayed wave of death from reproduction in Drosophila. Science 286: 2521-2524.

Sgrò, C.M., Chapman, T. and L. Partridge. 1998.  Sex-specific selection on time to remate in Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Behaviour 56: 1267-1278.

Sgrò, C.M., and A.A. Hoffmann. 1998b. Effects of stress combinations on the expression of additive genetic variation for fecundity in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetical Research 72: 13-18.

Sgrò, C.M., and A. A. Hoffmann. 1998a. Heritable variation for fecundity in field-collected D. melanogaster and their offspring reared under different environmental temperatures. Evolution 52: 134-143.

Sgrò, C.M., and A. A. Hoffmann. 1998. Effects of temperature extremes on genetic variances for life history traits in Drosophila melanogaster as determined from parent-offspring comparisons. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 11: 1-20

Partridge, L. and C.M. Sgrò. 1998. Behavioural genetics: molecular genetics meets feeding ecology. Current Biology 8: R23-R24.

Jenkins, N.L., Sgrò C.M. and A.A. Hoffmann. 1997. Environmental stress and the expression of genetic variation. Pp 79-96. In Environmental Stress, adaptation  and evolution. Eds. R. Bijlsma and V. Loeschcke. Birkhäuser, Basel. 1997.

Hoffmann, A.A., Sgrò C.M., and S.H. Lawler.  1995. Ecological population genetics: the interface between genes and the environment. Annual Review of Genetics 29: 349-370.