We aim to understand the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity across multiple scales of biological organization. We are driven by these questions:
We use various genetic, developmental, genomic, computational, and field approaches to address these questions. We also leverage the power of the Caenorhabditis elegansroundworm model system by focusing on its closest known relative, C. inopinata, which is morphologically divergent and lives in close association with figs and fig wasps.
J. Van Goor, G. C. Woodruff, and N. Kanzaki 2023., “How to be a fig nematode”, Acta Oecologica
E.W. Hammerschmidth*, G. C. Woodruff*, K. A. Moser, E. Johnson, and P. C. Phillips 2022, “Opposing directions of stage-specific body shape change in a close relative of C. elegans” BMC Zoology
G. C. Woodruff and A. A. Teterina 2020 “Degradation of the repetitive genomic landscape in a close relative of C. elegans” Molecular Biology and Evolution
G. C. Woodruff and P. C. Phillips 2018 “Field studies reveal a close relative of C. elegans thrives in the fresh figs of Ficus septica and disperses on its Ceratosolen pollinating wasps” BMC Ecology
G. C. Woodruff, J. H. Willis, and P. C. Phillips 2018 “Dramatic evolution of body length due to post-embryonic changes in cell size in a newly discovered close relative of C. elegans” Evolution Letters
