Véronique Delesalle

John McCrea and Marion Ball Dickson Chair & Professor

Biology

Contact

Email

delesall@gettysburg.edu

Phone

(717) 337 - 6153

Box

Campus Box 0392

Address

McCreary Hall
206A
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400

Website

Véronique's Homepage

Education

BS Mc Gill University, Montreal, 1978
MS Mc Gill University, Montreal, 1982
PhD University of Arizona, 1987

Academic Focus

Evolutionary Ecology, Bacteriophage ecology/evolution, Plant Mating Systems,

I’m an evolutionary biologist and teach courses reflecting both my interests and training.

Teaching: Bio 111 - Introduction to Ecology and Evolution; Bio 204 - Biology of Flowering Plants; Bio 314 - Evolution; Bio 315 - Genome and Molecular Evolution; Bio 361 Evolutionary Medicine

Research:

My research is in the field of evolutionary ecology.

Recently (2012), in collaboration with Dr. Greg Krukonis, I have started a project exploring the ecology and evolution of phages - viruses that infect bacteria - and their bacterial hosts. We are interested in

what factors determine a phage’s host range (their ability to infect a few versus many bacterial strains, to be specialists versus generalists);
how phages evolve as they exchange genetic material with other phages and/or as they encounter different bacterial strains to infect;
the relative importance of mutation versus recombination (horizontal gene transfer) in the process of adaptation in phages; and
the spatial and temporal scales at which these interactions take place (g., how does the diversity of phages and hosts change along these two dimensions).

Although my research has an evolutionary ecological focus, students learn basic microbiological and molecular techniques and work with a number of bioinformatics tools, all of which can apply to research/work in a diversity of fields in biology.

Areas of interests: Coevolution of phage and bacterial hosts - Genome organization in bacteriophage - Ecology and evolution of sexual/mating systems in plants

Courses Taught

Introduction to general biological principles, taught through themes with a focus on topical issues and applications. Topics may include adaptation, bioenergetics, patterns of inheritance, the history of life, ecology, gene expression, and cell biology. Designed for science majors with a high school background in biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Three class hours and one hour of weekly laboratory activity.
The study of the factors that shape the evolution of genes and genomes. The organization, origin, and mechanisms of change of viral, prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes are explored. Topics include: structure and function of genes, chromosomes, and genomes; the roles of natural selection and chance as drivers of molecular evolution; rates and patterns of DNA and amino acid sequence evolution; molecular phylogeny; reticulate evolution; gene duplication and mobile elements; genome evolution. Prerequisite: BIO 211
Study of the application of evolutionary thinking to human health issues. Topics to be covered include evolution of pathogens and virulence; mal-adaptations to modern lifestyles; genetic conflicts associated with reproduction including pregnancy; evolution of aging and age-related diseases. Seminar will address if and when medical treatment or public health policies benefit from incorporating an evolutionary perspective. Prerequisite: BIO 211

Article Testing hypotheses for the presence of tRNA genes in mycobacteriophage genomes. Bacteriophage, 6:3, e1219441