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Dr. Michael W. Nachman, Professor


Positions and Education
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 2003-present
Director, IGERT Program in Genomics, University of Arizona, 2002-present
Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 2000-2003
Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 1996-2000
Research Associate, Genetics and Development, Cornell University, 1994-1995
Honors and Awards

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2005


Research Interests
Michael Nachman and the members of his lab study population, evolutionary, and ecological genetics and genomics. Most work is on mammals with particular emphasis on mice and humans. Research is focused on understanding the forces that shape genetic variation in natural populations. A first major area of research is aimed at uncovering the extent to which natural selection can be detected in patterns of DNA sequence variation, and in particular, in understanding the joint effects of selection and recombination in determining the distribution of genetic variation. A second area of interest is the genetics of speciation. This includes studies to understand the origin and consequences of specific mutations that may limit gene flow between populations and closely related species. A third main area of interest is ecological genetics, aimed at uncovering the genetic basis of traits that are known to be important ecologically. This includes studies on the genetic basis of adaptive melanism in mice.

Visit Michael Nachman's website.


PubMed list of publications for Michael Nachman
Selected Publications
  1. Nachman, M.W. and P. Myers, 1989.  Exceptional chromosomal mutations in
    a rodent population are not strongly underdominant. Proc. Nat. Acad.
    Sci. 86: 6666-6670.

  2. Nachman, M.W., S.N. Boyer, J.B. Searle, and C.F. Aquadro, 1994
    Mitochondrial DNA variation and the evolution of Robertsonian
    chromosomal races of house mice, Mus domesticus. Genetics 136: 1105-1120.

  3. Nachman, M.W., S.N. Boyer, and C.F. Aquadro, 1994 Non-neutral evolution
    of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 gene in mice.  Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.
    91: 6364-6368.

  4. Nachman, M.W., and J.B. Searle, 1995 Why is the house mouse karyotype so
    variable?  Trends Ecol. Evol. 10: 397-402.

  5. Nachman, M.W., and G.A. Churchill. 1996 Heterogeneity in rates of
    recombination across the  mouse genome. Genetics 142: 537-548.

  6. Nachman, M.W., W.M. Brown, M. Stoneking, and C.F. Aquadro, 1996
    Nonneutral mitochondrial DNA variation in humans and chimpanzees.
    Genetics 142: 953-963.

  7. Nachman, M.W., 1997.  Patterns of DNA variability at X-linked loci in
    Mus domesticus. Genetics 147: 1303-1316.

  8. Nachman, M.W., 1998.  Deleterious mutations in animal mitochondrial DNA.
    Genetica 102/103: 61-69.

  9. Nachman, M.W., V.L. Bauer, S.L. Crowell, and C.F. Aquadro, 1998  DNA
    variability and recombination rates at X-linked loci in humans.
    Genetics 150: 1133-1141.

  10. Nachman, M.W., 1998  Y-chromosome variation of mice and men. Mol. Biol.
    Evol. 15: 1744-1750.

  11. Karn, R.C., and M.W. Nachman, 1999.  Reduced nucleotide variability at
    the salivary androgen-binding locus in house-mice; evidence for positive
    natural selection. Mol. Biol. Evol. 16: 1192-1197.

  12. Nachman, M.W., and S.L. Crowell, 2000.  Estimate of the mutation rate
    per nucleotide in humans.  Genetics 156: 297-304.

  13. Gilad, Y., D. Segre, K. Skorecki, M.W. Nachman, D. Lancet, and D.
    Sharon, 2000. Dichotomy of single-nucleotide polymorphism haplotypes in
    olfactory receptor genes and pseudogenes. Nature Genetics 26: 221-224.

  14. Payseur, B.A., and M.W. Nachman, 2000.  Microsatellite variation and
    recombination rate in the human genome.  Genetics 156: 1285-1298.

  15. Riginos, C., and M.W. Nachman, 2001. Population subdivision in marine
    environments: the contributions of isolation by distance, discontinuous
    habitat, and biogeography to genetic differentiation in a blennioid
    fish, Axoclinus nigricaudus. Molecular Ecology 10: 1439-1453.

  16. Nachman, M.W. 2001. Single nucleotide polymorphisms and recombination
    rate in humans. Trends in Genetics 17: 481-485.

  17. Payseur, B.A., A.D. Cutter, and M.W. Nachman, 2002. Searching for
    evidence of positive selection in the human genome using patterns of
    microsatellite variability.  Mol. Bio. Evol. 19: 1143-1153.

  18. Nachman, M.W. 2002 Variation in recombination rate across the genome:
    evidence and implications.  Curr. Op. Genet. Devel. 12: 657-663.

  19. Saunders, M.A., M.F. Hammer, and M.W. Nachman, 2002.  Nucleotide
    variability at G6pd and the signature of malarial selection in humans.
    Genetics 162:1849-1861.

  20. Nachman, M.W., Hoekstra, H.E., and S.L. D'Agostino, 2003. The genetic
    basis of adaptive melanism in pocket mice.  Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA
    100: 5268-5273.

  21. Storz, J.F. and M.W. Nachman, 2003. Natural selection on protein
    polymorphism in the rodent genus Peromyscus: evidence from interlocus
    contrasts. Evolution 57: 2628-2635.

  22. Nachman, M.W., S.L. D'Agostino, C.R. Tillquist, Z. Mobasher, and M.F.
    Hammer, 2004. Nucleotide variation at Msn and Alas2, two genes
    flanking the centromere of the X chromosome in humans. Genetics 167:
    423-437.

  23. Hoekstra, H.E., K.E. Drumm, and M.W. Nachman, 2004. Ecological genetics
    of adaptive color polymorphism in pocket mice: geographic variation in
    selected and neutral genes.  Evolution 58: 1329-1341.

  24. Storz, J.F., B.A. Payseur, and M.W. Nachman, 2004.  Multilocus scans of
    microsatellite variability in humans reveal evidence for selective
    sweeps outside of Africa.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 21: 1800-1811.

  25. Rosenblum, E.B., H.E. Hoekstra, and M.W. Nachman, 2004.  Adaptive
    reptile color variation and the evolution of the Mc1r gene.  Evolution
    58: 1794-1808.

  26. Hammer, M.F., D. Garrigan, E. Wood, J.A. Wilder, Z. Mobasher, A. Bigham,
    J.G. Krenz, and M.W. Nachman, 2004. Heterogeneous patterns of variation
    among multiple X linked loci: the possible role of diversity reducing
    selection in non-Africans.  Genetics 167: 1841-1853.

  27. Payseur, B.A., J.G. Krenz, and M.W. Nachman, 2004.  Differential
    patterns of introgression across the X chromosome in a hybrid zone
    between two species of house mice.  Evolution 58: 2064-2078.

  28. Nachman, M.W. 2005. The genetic basis of adaptation: lessons from
    concealing coloration in pocket mice.  Genetica 123: 125-136.

  29. Payseur, B.A., and M.W. Nachman, 2005.  The genomics of speciation:
    investigating the molecular correlates of X chromosome introgression
    across the hybrid zone between Mus domesticus and Mus musculus.
    Biol. J. Linn. Soc 84: 523-534.

  30. Good, J.M., and M.W. Nachman, 2005.  Rates of protein evolution are
    positively correlated with developmental timing of expression during
    mouse spermatogenesis. Mol. Biol. Evol. 22: 1044-1052.

  31. Saunders, M.A., M. Slatkin, C. Garner, M.F. Hammer, and M.W. Nachman,
    2005.  The extent of linkage disequilibrium caused by selection on
    G6PD in humans. Genetics 171: 1219-1229.

  32. Wood, E.T., D.A. Stover, M. Slatkin, M.W. Nachman, and M.F. Hammer,
    2005. The beta-globin recombinational hotspot reduces the effects of
    genetic hitchhiking around HbC, a recently arisen mutation providing
    resistance to malaria.  American Journal of Human Genetics 77: 637-642.

  33. Nachman, M.W., 2006 Detecting selection at the molecular level.  In:
    Evolutionary Genetics, Concepts and Case Studies, edited by C.W. Fox
    and J.B. Wolf. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

  34. Geraldes, A., N. Ferrand, and M.W. Nachman, 2006.  Contrasting patterns
    of introgression at X-linked loci across the hybrid zone between
    subspecies of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).  Genetics
    173: 919-933.

  35. Dean, M.D., K.G. Ardlie, and M.W. Nachman, 2006. The frequency of
    multiple paternity suggests that sperm competition is common in house
    mice (Mus domesticus). Molecular Ecology 15: 4141-4151.

  36. Saunders, M.A., J.M. Good, E.C. Lawrence, R.E Ferrell. W-H. Li, and M.W.
    Nachman, 2006. Humand adaptive evolution at Myostatin, a regulator of
    muscle growth.  American Journal of Human Genetics 79: 1089-1097.

  37. Storz, J.F., S.J. Sabatina, E.J. Gering, H. Moriyama, N. Ferrand, B.
    Montiero, and M.W. Nachman, 2007. The molecular basis of high-altitude
    adaptation in deer mice.  PLoS Genetics 3: 448-459.

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