BRCAS

Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica

People Faculty Dr. John Wang

Dr. John Wang Associate Research Fellow

Lab PI

Dr. John Wang

Associate Research Fellow

Ph.D. Stanford University

[ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ]

Office: Interdisciplinary Research Building for Science and Technology A302

Tel:+886-2-2787-1582
Research Fields
  • Evolutionary genetics and genomics
  • Social insect behavior
  • Nematode genome evolution

Research Directions

  • 1.Evolutionary genetics of societies
    Animal societies are extremely diverse with humans and ants having some of the largest and most complex. Within ants, social structures can range from small families of close kin to massive supercolonies composed of unrelated individuals. We use the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, as a model to study an intraspecific social polymorphism in queen number: colonies have either one or many queens. This simple difference in colony queen number is associated with differences not only in multiple individual phenotypes but also in the levels of cooperation and conflict among individuals between colony types. Using experimental and comparative genomics approaches we aim to determine the molecular genetic basis for these phenotypic differences. These studies will also help us understand the evolution of complex adaptive phenotypes.
  • 2. Evolution of genome size
    The genome sizes of eukaryote species vary across five orders of magnitude and its evolution depends on a balance between expansion and contraction mechanisms. In Caenorhabditis nematodes, hermaphroditic species have smaller genomes than male/female species, likely as a result of non-independent assortment between the sex and autosomal chromosomes. Our lab is studying the genetic basis for this violation of Mendelian inheritance with the goal of understanding genome size evolution in nematodes and other organisms.

 

Latest published paper

期刊論文 ( 2017 - 2020 )

  1. Fontana S, Chang NC, Chang T, Lee CC, Dang VD, Wang J*, 2020, “The fire ant social supergene is characterized by extensive gene and transposable element copy number variation”, MOLECULAR ECOLOGY, 29, 105-120. (SCI) (IF: 6.131; SCI ranking: 6.3%,13%,12.2%) Link
  2. Dang VD, Cohanim AB, Fontana S, Privman E, Wang J*, 2019, “Has gene expression neofunctionalization in the fire ant antennae contributed to queen discrimination behavior?”, GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 9(22):12754-12766. (SCI) (IF: 3.94; SCI ranking: 28.6%,24.6%)
  3. Lee D, Zdraljevic S, Cook DE, Frézal L, Hsu JC, Sterken MG, Riksen JAG, Wang J, Kammenga JE, Braendle C, Félix MA, Schroeder FC, Andersen EC*, 2019, “Selection and gene flow shape niche-associated variation in pheromone response”, NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, 3(10):1455-1463. (SCI)
  4. Jia Ling-Yi, Chen Li, Keller Laurent, Wang John, Xiao Jin-Hua*, Huang Da-Wei*, 2018, “Doublesex Evolution Is Correlated with Social Complexity in Ants”, Genome Biology and Evolution, 10(12), 3230-3242. (SCI) (IF: 3.979; SCI ranking: 25.1%,29.2%) Link
  5. Lee Chih-Chi, Wang John*, 2018, “Rapid Expansion of a Highly Germline-Expressed Mariner Element Acquired by Horizontal Transfer in the Fire Ant Genome”, Genome Biology and Evolution, 10(12), 3262-3278. (SCI) (IF: 3.979; SCI ranking: 25.1%,29.2%) Link
  6. Qiu Bitao, Larsen Rasmus Stenbak, Chang Ni-Chen, Wang John, Boomsma Jacobus J., Zhang Guojie*, 2018, “Towards reconstructing the ancestral brain gene-network regulating caste differentiation in ants”, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(11) 1782-1791. Link
  7. Kanzaki Natsumi, Tsai Isheng J., Tanaka Ryusei, Hunt Vicky L., Liu Dang, Tsuyama Kenji, Maeda Yasunobu, Namai Satoshi, Kumagai Ryohei, Tracey Alan, Holroyd Nancy, Doyle Stephen R., Woodruff Gavin C., Murase Kazunori, Kitazume Hiromi, Chai Cynthia, Akagi Allison, Panda Oishika, Ke Huei-Mien, Schroeder Frank C., Wang John, Berriman Matthew, Sternberg Paul W., Sugimoto Asako*, Kikuchi Taisei*, 2018, “Biology and genome of a newly discovered sibling species of Caenorhabditis elegans”, Nature Communications, 9, 3216. (SCI) (IF: 12.124; SCI ranking: 4.7%) Link
  8. Félix Marie-Anne*, Ailion Michael, Hsu Jung-Chen, Richaud Aurélien, Wang John, 2018, “Pristionchus nematodes occur frequently in diverse rotting vegetal substrates and are not exclusively necromenic, while Panagrellus redivivoides is found specifically in rotting fruits”, PLOS ONE, 13(8), e0200851. (SCI) (IF: 2.806; SCI ranking: 23.4%) Link
  9. Warren Wesley C.*, García-Pérez Raquel, Xu Sen, Lampert Kathrin P., Chalopin Domitille, Stöck Matthias, Loewe Laurence, Lu Yuan, Kuderna Lukas, Minx Patrick, Montague Michael J., Tomlinson Chad, Hillier LaDeana W., Murphy Daniel N., Wang John, Wang Zhongwei, Garcia Constantino Macias, Thomas Gregg C. W., Volff Jean-Nicolas, Farias Fabiana, Aken Bronwen, Walter Ronald B., Pruitt Kim D., Marques-Bonet Tomas, Hahn Matthew W., Kneitz Susanne, Lynch Michael, Schartl Manfred*, 2018, “Clonal polymorphism and high heterozygosity in the celibate genome of the Amazon molly”, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(4) 669-679. (SCI) Link
  10. Huang Yu-Ching, Dang Viet Dai, Chang Ni-Chen, Wang John*, 2018, “Multiple large inversions and breakpoint rewiring of gene expression in the evolution of the fire ant social supergene”, Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 285(1878), 20180221. (SCI) (IF: 4.94; SCI ranking: 10.6%,16.7%,11.1%) Link
  11. Lee Chih-Chi, Wang John, Matsuura Kenji, Yang Chin-Cheng Scotty*, 2018, “The complete mitochondrial genome of yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)”, MITOCHONDRIAL DNA PART B-RESOURCES, 3(2), 622-623. (SCI) Link
  12. T.S. Le, F.-J. Yang, Y.-H. Lo, T.C. Chang, J.C. Hsu, C.-Y. Kao, J. Wang*, 2017, “Non-Mendelian assortment of homologous autosomes of different sizes in males is the ancestral state in the Caenorhabditis lineage”, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7(1), 12819. (SCI) (IF: 4.259; SCI ranking: 15.6%) Link