My research aims to understand the processes generating and eliminating genetic variation, and the consequences of these for evolution. This research has three specific foci. First, we study native Australian rainforest flies, using simple phenotypes like wing shape to provide insights into how genetic variation arises through mutation and evolves under selection. Second, in both flies and in fishes, we study how the biotic and abiotic environment affects the contribution of genetic variation to phenotypes. The environment applies selection, but can also directly determine the genetic basis of the traits under selection, and affect the rate of evolution when environments change. Third, we seek to understand how morphology, physiology and behaviour interact to cause variation in functional performance, particularly swimming performance in fish. All organisms must perform certain functions (e.g., feeding, moving), and their performance of these functions directly determines their fitness.
Journal Article: Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection. Genetics, 197 3: 1051-1062. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.165720
Journal Article: The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., McGraw, Elizabeth A., Ye, Yixin H., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata. Genetics, 196 3: 911-921. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.161232
Journal Article: Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits
McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2013) Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits. Evolution, 67 4: 1131-1142. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01833.x
Journal Article: Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback
McGuigan, Katrina, Nishimura, Nicole, Currey, Mark, Hurwit, Dan and Cresko, William A. (2011) Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback. Evolution, 65 4: 1203-1211. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01195.x
Journal Article: Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation
McGuigan, K.L. and Sgro, C.M. (2009) Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24 6: 305-311. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.02.001
Journal Article: Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats
McGuigan, Katrina, Franklin, Craig E., Moritz, Craig and Blows, Mark W. (2003) Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats. Evolution, 57 1: 104-118. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2003)057[0104:AORFTL]2.0.CO;2
The nature of standing genetic variation
(2019–2021) ARC Discovery Projects
Understanding rapid adaptation to new environments
(2018–2021) ARC Discovery Projects
Understanding the fitness consequences of new mutations
(2016–2019) UQ Fellowships
The distribution of fitness effects of new mutations - consequences for the maintenance of quantitative genetic variation
Doctor Philosophy
The genetic basis of phenotypic variation along an a temporal and structural gradient
Doctor Philosophy
Dimensions of genotypic and phenotypic divergence in marine metapopulations: space, time, and ontogeny
Doctor Philosophy
Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection. Genetics, 197 3: 1051-1062. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.165720
The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., McGraw, Elizabeth A., Ye, Yixin H., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata. Genetics, 196 3: 911-921. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.161232
Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits
McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2013) Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits. Evolution, 67 4: 1131-1142. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01833.x
Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback
McGuigan, Katrina, Nishimura, Nicole, Currey, Mark, Hurwit, Dan and Cresko, William A. (2011) Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback. Evolution, 65 4: 1203-1211. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01195.x
Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation
McGuigan, K.L. and Sgro, C.M. (2009) Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24 6: 305-311. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.02.001
Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats
McGuigan, Katrina, Franklin, Craig E., Moritz, Craig and Blows, Mark W. (2003) Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats. Evolution, 57 1: 104-118. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2003)057[0104:AORFTL]2.0.CO;2
Quantitative genetic variation, comparing patterns of
McGuigan, K. and Aguirre, J. D. (2016). Quantitative genetic variation, comparing patterns of. In Richard M. Kliman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of evolutionary biology (pp. 377-387) Kidlington, Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-800049-6.00045-7
Do slower movers have lower reproductive success and higher mutation load?
Walsh, Carly B. and McGuigan, Katrina (2018) Do slower movers have lower reproductive success and higher mutation load?. Evolution Letters, . doi:10.1002/evl3.87
Hine, Emma, Runcie, Daniel E., McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2018) Uneven distribution of mutational variance across the transcriptome of Drosophila serrata revealed by high-dimensional analysis of gene expression. Genetics, 209 4: 1319-1328. doi:10.1534/genetics.118.300757
Thia, Joshua A., Riginos, Cynthia, Liggins, Libby, Figueira, Will F. and McGuigan, Katrina (2018) Larval traits show temporally consistent constraints, but are decoupled from post-settlement juvenile growth, in an intertidal fish. The Journal of Animal Ecology, 87 5: 1353-1363. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12844
Collet, Julie M., McGuigan, Katrina, Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2018) Mutational pleiotropy and the strength of stabilizing selection within and between functional modules of gene expression. Genetics, 208 4: 1601-1616. doi:10.1534/genetics.118.300776
How does mutation affect the distribution of phenotypes?
McGuigan, Katrina and Aw, Ernest (2017) How does mutation affect the distribution of phenotypes?. Evolution, 71 10: 2445-2456. doi:10.1111/evo.13358
Allen, Scott L., McGuigan, Katrina, Connallon, Tim, Blows, Mark W. and Chenoweth, Stephen F. (2017) Sexual selection on spontaneous mutations strengthens the between-sex genetic correlation for fitness. Evolution, 71 10: 2398-2409. doi:10.1111/evo.13310
Sztepanacz, Jacqueline L., McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2017) Heritable micro-environmental variance covaries with fitness in an outbred population of Drosophila serrata. Genetics, 206 4: 2185-2198. doi:10.1534/genetics.116.199075
Repeatability of locomotor performance and morphology-locomotor performance relationships
Conradsen, Cara, Walker, Jeffrey A., Perna, Catherine and McGuigan, Katrina (2016) Repeatability of locomotor performance and morphology-locomotor performance relationships. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219 18: 2888-2897. doi:10.1242/jeb.141259
Richards, Thomas J., Walter, Greg M., McGuigan, Katrina and Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel (2016) Divergent natural selection drives the evolution of reproductive isolation in an Australian wildflower. Evolution, 70 9: 1993-2003. doi:10.1111/evo.12994
Malard, Lucie A., McGuigan, Katrina and Riginos, Cynthia (2016) Site fidelity, size, and morphology may differ by tidal position for an intertidal fish, Bathygobius cocosensis (Perciformes-Gobiidae), in Eastern Australia. PeerJ, 2016 7: e2263. doi:10.7717/peerj.2263
Conradsen, C. and McGuigan, K. (2015) Sexually dimorphic morphology and swimming performance relationships in wild-type zebrafish Danio rerio. Journal of Fish Biology, 87 5: 1219-1233. doi:10.1111/jfb.12784
McGuigan, Katrina, David Aguirre, J. David and Blows, Mark W. (2015) Simultaneous estimation of additive and mutational genetic variance in an outbred population of drosophila serrata. Genetics, 201 3: 1239-1251. doi:10.1534/genetics.115.178632
Transcriptome-wide effects of sexual selection on the fate of new mutations
Collet, Julie M., Blows, Mark W. and McGuigan, Katrina (2015) Transcriptome-wide effects of sexual selection on the fate of new mutations. Evolution, 69 11: 2905-2916. doi:10.1111/evo.12778
The phenome-wide distribution of genetic variance
Blows, Mark W., Allen, Scott L., Collet, Julie M., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and McGuigan, Katrina (2015) The phenome-wide distribution of genetic variance. American Naturalist, 186 1: 15-30. doi:10.1086/681645
The distribution of genetic variance across phenotypic space and the response to selection
Blows, Mark W. and McGuigan, Katrina (2015) The distribution of genetic variance across phenotypic space and the response to selection. Molecular Ecology, 24 9: 2056-2072. doi:10.1111/mec.13023
Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) Pleiotropic mutations are subject to strong stabilizing selection. Genetics, 197 3: 1051-1062. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.165720
The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata
McGuigan, Katrina, Collet, Julie M., McGraw, Elizabeth A., Ye, Yixin H., Allen, Scott L., Chenoweth, Stephen F. and Blows, Mark W. (2014) The nature and extent of mutational pleiotropy in gene expression of male Drosophila serrata. Genetics, 196 3: 911-921. doi:10.1534/genetics.114.161232
Comparing G: multivariate analysis of genetic variation in multiple populations
Aguirre, J. D., Hine, E., McGuigan, K. and Blows, M. W. (2014) Comparing G: multivariate analysis of genetic variation in multiple populations. Heredity, 112 1: 21-29. doi:10.1038/hdy.2013.12
Evolutionary constraints in high-dimensional trait sets
Hine, Emma, McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2014) Evolutionary constraints in high-dimensional trait sets. American Naturalist, 184 1: 119-131. doi:10.1086/676504
Latimer, Camille A. L., McGuigan, Katrina, Wilson, Robbie S., Blows, Mark W. and Chenoweth, Stephen F. (2014) The contribution of spontaneous mutations to thermal sensitivity curve variation in drosophila serrata. Evolution, 68 6: 1824-1837. doi:10.1111/evo.12392
Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits
McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2013) Joint allelic effects on fitness and metric traits. Evolution, 67 4: 1131-1142. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01833.x
Kimmel, Charles B., Cresko, William A., Phillips, Patrick C., Ullmann, Bonnie, Currey, Mark, von Hippel, Frank, Kristjansson, Bjarni K., Gelmond, Ofer and McGuigan, Katrina (2012) Independent axes of genetic variation and parallel evolutionary divergence of opercle bone shape in threespine stickleback. Evolution, 66 2: 419-434. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01441.x
Reducing mutation load through sexual selection on males
McGuigan, Kate, Petfield, Donna and Blows, Mark W. (2011) Reducing mutation load through sexual selection on males. Evolution, 65 10: 2816-2829. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01346.x
Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback
McGuigan, Katrina, Nishimura, Nicole, Currey, Mark, Hurwit, Dan and Cresko, William A. (2011) Cryptic genetic variation and body size evolution in threespine stickleback. Evolution, 65 4: 1203-1211. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01195.x
Natural selection stops the evolution of male attractiveness
Hine, Emma, McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W (2011) Natural selection stops the evolution of male attractiveness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108 9: 3659-3664. doi:10.1073/pnas.1011876108
Pleiotropy, apparent stabilizing selection and uncovering fitness optima
McGuigan, Katrina, Rowe, Locke and Blows, Mark W. (2011) Pleiotropy, apparent stabilizing selection and uncovering fitness optima. Trends In Ecology & Evolution, 26 1: 22-29. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2010.10.008
The genetic basis of sexually selected variation
Chenoweth, Stephen F. and McGuigan, Katrina (2010) The genetic basis of sexually selected variation. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics, 41 81-101. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144657
McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2010) Evolvability of individual traits in a multivariate context: Partitioning the additive genetic variance into common and specific components. Evolution, 64 7: 1899-1911. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00968.x
Asymmetry of genetic variation in fitness-related traits: Apparent stabilizing selection on g(max)
McGuigan, Katrina and Blows, Mark W. (2009) Asymmetry of genetic variation in fitness-related traits: Apparent stabilizing selection on g(max). Evolution, 63 11: 2838-2847. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00759.x
Condition dependence varies with mating success in male Drosophila bunnanda
McGuigan, K (2009) Condition dependence varies with mating success in male Drosophila bunnanda. JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, 22 9: 1813-1825. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01791.x
Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation
McGuigan, K.L. and Sgro, C.M. (2009) Evolutionary consequences of cryptic genetic variation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24 6: 305-311. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.02.001
An Evolutionary Limit to Male Mating Success
McGuigan, K. L., Van Homrigh, A. J. and Blows, M. W. (2008) An Evolutionary Limit to Male Mating Success. Evolution, 62 6: 1528-1537. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00379.x
Genetic Analysis of Female Preference Functions as Function-Valued Traits
McGuigan, K. L., Van Homrigh, A.J. and Blows, M. W. (2008) Genetic Analysis of Female Preference Functions as Function-Valued Traits. American Naturalist, 172 2: 194-202. doi:10.1086/588075
Studies of threespine stickleback developmental evolution: Progress and promise
Cresko, W. A., McGuigan, K. L., Phillips, P. C. and Postlethwait, J. H. (2007) Studies of threespine stickleback developmental evolution: Progress and promise. Genetica, 129 1: 105-126. doi:10.1007/s10709-006-0036-z
The depletion of genetic variance by sexual selection
Van Homrigh, A., Higgie, M., McGuigan, K. and Blows, M. W. (2007) The depletion of genetic variance by sexual selection. Current Biology, 17 6: 528-532. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.01.055
The phenotypic and genetic covariance structure of drosphilid wings
McGuigan, K. and Blows, M. W. (2007) The phenotypic and genetic covariance structure of drosphilid wings. Evolution, 61 4: 902-911. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00078.x
Studying phenotypic evolution using multivariate quantitative genetics
McGuigan, K. L. (2006) Studying phenotypic evolution using multivariate quantitative genetics. Molecular Ecology, 15 4: 883-896. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.02809.x
Phenotypic divergence along lines of genetic variance
McGuigan, K., Chenoweth, S. F. and Blows, M. W. (2005) Phenotypic divergence along lines of genetic variance. American Naturalist, 165 1: 32-43. doi:10.1086/426600
Evolution of sarcomeric myosin heavy chain genes: Evidence from fish
McGuigan, K., Phillips, P. C. and Postlethwait, J. H. (2004) Evolution of sarcomeric myosin heavy chain genes: Evidence from fish. Molecular Biology And Evolution, 21 6: 1042-1056. doi:10.1093/molbev/msh103
Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats
McGuigan, Katrina, Franklin, Craig E., Moritz, Craig and Blows, Mark W. (2003) Adaptation of rainbow fish to lake and stream habitats. Evolution, 57 1: 104-118. doi:10.1554/0014-3820(2003)057[0104:AORFTL]2.0.CO;2
An addition to the rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) fauna of North Queensland
McGuigan, Katrina Louise (2001) An addition to the rainbowfish (Melanotaeniidae) fauna of North Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 46 2: 647-655.
Mcguigan, K., Zhu, D., Allen, G. R. and Moritz, C. C. (2000) Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of melanotaenlid fishes in Australia and New Guinea. Marine Freshwater Research, 51 7: 713-723. doi:10.1071/MF99159
Donnellan, S. C., McGuigan, K., Knowles, R., Mahony, M. and Moritz, C. C. (1999) Genetic evidence for species boundaries in frogs of the Litoria citropa species-group (Anura: Hylidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 47 3: 275-293. doi:10.1071/ZO99013
McGuigan, K, McDonald, K, Parris, K and Moritz, C (1998) Mitochondrial DNA diversity and historical biogeography of a wet forest-restricted frog (Litoria pearsoniana) from mid-east Australia. Molecular Ecology, 7 2: 175-186. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00329.x
Quantitative genetic variation in static allometry in the threespine stickleback
McGuigan, Katrina, Nishimura, Nicole, Currey, Mark, Hurwit, Dan and Cresko, William A. (2010). Quantitative genetic variation in static allometry in the threespine stickleback. In: Proceedins of the Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology: Symposia and Oral Abstracts. Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB 2010), Seattle, United States, (1067-1080). 3-7 January 2010. doi:10.1093/icb/icq026
Evolutionary genetics of rainbowfish : phylogeny, adaptation and constraint
McGuigan, Katrina Louise. (2001). Evolutionary genetics of rainbowfish : phylogeny, adaptation and constraint PhD Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland.
The nature of standing genetic variation
(2019–2021) ARC Discovery Projects
Understanding rapid adaptation to new environments
(2018–2021) ARC Discovery Projects
Understanding the fitness consequences of new mutations
(2016–2019) UQ Fellowships
The contribution of pleiotropic mutation to genetic variation and evolution
(2015–2017) ARC Discovery Projects
Understanding phenotypes: Contributions from studying mutations in a model organism
(2012–2016) ARC Future Fellowships
Multivariate Quantitative Genetics And The Lek Paradox
(2005–2007) ARC Discovery Projects
The distribution of fitness effects of new mutations - consequences for the maintenance of quantitative genetic variation
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
The genetic basis of phenotypic variation along an a temporal and structural gradient
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Dimensions of genotypic and phenotypic divergence in marine metapopulations: space, time, and ontogeny
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
The relationships between diet and ageing in Drosophila serrata
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
How different is different? The design and function of highly contrasting colour patterns in animals
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Response to natural selection in Senecio Lautus
(2017) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
(2016) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
(2010) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: