Laboratory of Genetics of Marine Organisms

Our research are mainly devoted to molecular genetics of populations and biogeography of the exploited marine and brackish water animals with implications for aquaculture, fishery and health. We combine SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) genotyping with genome and gene expression studies in key marine model fish species such as cod and salmonids (brown/sea trout and salmon) in response to changing marine environmental and ecological factors, including pathogens. We have been also involved in research into genetic mechanisms and processes, as transposition and mobile elements in fishes, and doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA in blue mussels Mytilus.
Recent more specific topics of our research: We have been involved in many collaborative international and national research projects (e.g. "BaltGene" - BONUS+), EU Network of Excellence on Marine Genomics (MGE), EU "BIOCOMBE", cGRASP).

Professor Roman Wenne. Head

Małgorzata Zbawicka, Ph.D.

Beata Śmietanka, Ph.D.

Tomasz Kijewski, Ph.D.

Agnieszka Kijewska, Ph.D.

Anita Poćwierz-Kotus, Ph.D.

Ph.D. students:

Agata Drywa, M.Sc., Eng.

Kamila Sfugier, M.Sc.

Topic: Mechanisms of changes in genetic diversity of marine animal species

Tasks:

  1. Recombination and doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA in marine mussels Mytilus (bivalves)

  2. Identification of taxa, geographic differentiation and introgression in populations of mussels Mytilus with the application of molecular DNA-based techniques

  3. Genetic diversity in populations and phylogenetic relationships of some fish species in the Baltic

  4. Genetic background of some ecological interactions in wild and cultured fishes

Service provided: molecular analysis of mussels Mytilus samples in relation to mariculture

Participation in international networks and projects:

MGE Network of Excellence: Implementation of high-throughput genomic approaches to investigate the functionning of marine ecosystems and the biology of marine organisms,

cGRASP – Consortium for Genomic Research on All Salmonids Project

FISH - BOL – Fish Barcode of Life

BIOCOMBE (The impact of biodiversity changes in coastal marine benthic ecosystems) - contractor IO PAS

National projects:

Mitogenomics of mussels from the Mytilus edulis species complex (N N303 418336).

Mechanism of sex lineage specificity determination in Mytilus mitochondria (P04C 026 29)

Rearanżacje w głównym rejonie niekodującym mitochondrialnego DNA w europejskich populacjach małży Mytilus, N303 005 31/0226

Polymorphism of transposons Tc-1 like in fish genomes, N303 387033

Main publications:

Zbawicka M., Drywa A., Śmietanka B., Wenne R. 2012. Identification and validation of novel SNP markers in European populations of marine Mytilus mussels. Marine Biology, to be published,

Kijewski T, Śmietanka B, Zbawicka M, Gosling E, Hummel H, Wenne R. 2011. Distribution of Mytilus taxa in European coastal areas as inferred from molecular markers. Journal of Sea Research, 65: 224-234,

Wenne R, Handschuh L, Poćwierz-Kotus A, Urbaniak R, Formanowicz P, Całkiewicz J,Brzozowska K, Figlerowicz M, Węgrzyn G, Wróbel B. 2011. The application of microarray technology to the identification of Tc1-like element sequences in fish genomes. Marine Biology Research, 7: 466-477,

Śmietanka B, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2010. Comparative Genomics of Marine Mussels (Mytilus spp.) Gender Associated mtDNA: Rapidly Evolving atp8. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 71: 385-400,

Poćwierz-Kotus A, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2010. Identification of a Tc1- like transposon integration site in the genome of the flounder (Platichthys flesus): a novel use of an inverse PCR method. Marine Genomics, 3: 45-50,

Zbawicka M., Burzyński A., Skibinski D., Wenne R. 2010. Scottish Mytilus trossulus mussels retain ancestral mitochondrial DNA: Complete sequences of male and female mtDNA genomes. Gene, 456: 45-53,

Kijewska A, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2009. Molecular Identification of European Flounder (Platichthys flesus), European Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and their Hybrids. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 902-906,

Śmietanka B, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2009. Molecular population genetics of male and female mitochondrial genomes in European mussels Mytilus. Marine Biology, 156: 913-925,

Kijewska A, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2009. Variation in the copy number of tandem repeats of mitochondrial DNA in the North-East Atlantic cod populations. Marine Biology Research, 5: 186-192,

Kijewski T, Wijsman JWM, Hummel H, Wenne R. 2009. Genetic composition of cultured and wild mussels Mytilus from Netherlands and transfers from Ireland and Great Britain. Aquaculture, 287: 292-296,

Wenne R, Boudry P, Hemmer-Hansen J, Lubieniecki KP, Was A, Kause A. 2007. What role for genomics in fisheries management and aquaculture? Aquatic Living Resources, 20: 241-255,

Zbawicka M, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2007. Complete sequences of mitochondrial genomes from the Baltic mussel Mytilus trossulus. Gene, 406: 191-198,

Poćwierz-Kotus A, Burzyński A, Wenne R. 2007. Family of Tc1-like elements from fish genomes and horizontal transfer. Gene, 390: 243-251,

Burzyński A, Zbawicka M, Skibinski DOF, Wenne R. 2006. Doubly Uniparental Inheritance is Associated with High Polymorphism for Rearranged and Recombinant Control Region Haplotypes in Baltic Mytilus trossulus. Genetics, 174: 1081-1094,

Kijewski T, Zbawicka M, Väinölä R, Wenne R. 2006. Introgression and mitochondrial DNA heteroplasmy in the Baltic populations of mussels Mytilus trossulus and M. edulis. Marine Biology, 149: 1371-1385,

Śmietanka B, Zbawicka M, Wołowicz M, Wenne R. 2004. Mitochondrial DNA lineages in the European populations of mussels Mytilus. Marine Biology, 146: 79-92,

Burzyński A, Zbawicka M, Skibinski D.O.F, Wenne R. 2003. Evidence for recombination of mtDNA in the marine mussel Mytilus trossulus from the Baltic. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 20: 388-392,

Zbawicka M, Skibinski DOF, Wenne R. 2003. Doubly uniparental transmission of mitochondrial DNA length variants in the mussel Mytilus trossulus. Marine Biology, 142: 455-460,

Wąs A, Wenne R, 2003. Microsatellite DNA polymorphism in intensely enhanced populations of sea trout (Salmo trutta) in the Southern Baltic. Marine Biotechnology, 5: 234-243

Quesada H, Wenne R, Skibinski DOF. 1999. Interspecies transfer of female mitochondrial DNA is coupled with role - reversals and departure from neutrality in the mussel Mytilus trossulus. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 16: 655-665