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Jeanne A. Zeh

Associate Professor, Emerita She/her/hers

Summary

Jeanne Zeh carried out research at the interface of behavior, genetics and evolution, and utilized a variety of methods, ranging from field studies of sexual selection to next generation DNA sequencing. She retired in 2022 after 23 years of service in research, teaching and undergraduate/graduate mentorship in the Department of Biology and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology. The undergraduate/graduate course she developed on epigenetics and human disease (BIOL 454/654) was among the highest enrollment upper division electives taught in the Department of Biology and was the first epigenetics course established in the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Research interests

  • Investigation of genomic conflict-based genetic incompatibility in the processes of sexual selection and speciation, particularly in live-bearing organisms.
  • Ecological and evolutionary epigenetics, an emerging field that can address long-standing issues involving the origin and maintenance of biological diversity.
  • The epi-transposon hypothesis, in which environmental stressors trigger disruption in epigenetic regulation, leading to increased transposable element activity that can generate the phenotypic changes required for punctuated equilibria and adaptive radiation.
  • The role of epigenetics in speciation, particularly in flowering plants and mammals, with disruption of parent-of-origin gene expression contributing disproportionately to post-zygotic reproductive isolation.
  • Whether intergenerational/transgenerational inheritance of environmentally-induced epigenetic changes can ameliorate or exacerbate the impacts of global warming, particularly in tropical ectotherms.
  • The harlequin beetle riding pseudoscorpion, Cordylochernes scorpioides, as a model tropical arthropod species for simulated climate warming studies of the role of epigenetic and transposable element dysregulation in temperature-induced reproductive dysfunction.

Courses taught

  • BIOL 191 - Introduction to Organismal Biology
  • BIOL 454/654 - Genomic Conflict, Epigenetics and Human Disease
  • EECB 752 - Divided Selves: Genomic Conflicts and Behavioral Ecology
  • EECB 752 - Ecological and Evolutionary Epigenetics

Education

  • Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, 1996
  • B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 1986

Selected publications

  • Zeh J.A., M.A. Zawlodzki, M.M. Bonilla, E.J. Su-Keene, M.V. Padua & D.W. Zeh. 2019. Sperm competitive advantage of a rare mitochondrial haplogroup linked to differential expression of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation genes. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 32, 1320-1330.
  • Bonilla M.M., J.A. Zeh & D.W. Zeh. 2016. An epigenetic resolution of the lek paradox. BioEssays 38, 355-366.
  • Padua M.V., D.W. Zeh, M.M. Bonilla & J.A. Zeh. 2014. Sisters' curse: sexually antagonistic effects constrain the spread of a mitochondrial haplogroup superior in sperm competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281, 9.
  • Zeh J.A., M.M. Bonilla, E.J. Su, M.V. Padua, R.V. Anderson, D. Kaur, D.-S. Yang & D.W. Zeh. 2012. Degrees of disruption: projected temperature increase has catastrophic consequences for reproduction in a tropical ectotherm. Global Change Biology 18, 1833-1842.
  • Zeh, D.W. & J.A. Zeh. 2009. Transposable elements and an epigenetic basis for punctuated equilibria. BioEssays, 31, 715-726
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 2008. Viviparity-driven conflict: more to speciation than meets the fly. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1133, 126-148.
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 2006. Outbred embryos rescue inbred half siblings in mixed paternity broods of live-bearing females. Nature 439, 201-203.
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 2005. Maternal inheritance, sexual conflict and the maladapted male. Trends in Genetics 21, 281-286.
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 2003. Toward a new sexual selection paradigm: polyandry, conflict and incompatibility. Ethology 109, 929-950.
  • Newcomer, S.D., J.A. Zeh & D.W. Zeh. 1999. Genetic benefits enhance the reproductive success of polyandrous females. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 96, 10236-10241.
  • Zeh, J.A., S.D. Newcomer & D.W. Zeh. 1998. Polyandrous females discriminate against previous mates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95, 13732-13736.
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 1997. The evolution of polyandry II: post-copulatory defenses against genetic incompatibility. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 264, 69-75.
  • Zeh, J.A. & D.W. Zeh. 1996. The evolution of polyandry I: intragenomic conflict and genetic incompatibility. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 263, 1711-1717.