Staff

YAMAGUCHI RyoAssistant Professor

Laboratory
Laboratory of Mathematical Biology
Research Theme
mathematical modeling in the dynamics of evolution
Research Keywords

mathematical biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, population genetics, speciation, evolutionary experiment, mathematical modeling

Overview of Research

Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. It is especially important to understand the diversity and generality of living organisms on the earth and complex life phenomena. Mathematical models allow us to determine which evolutionary transitions are plausible and which are inaccessible. Currently, we are focusing on the following research themes.
(i) Genomics and speciation theory for non-model organisms
(ii) Fitness landscape theory that connects genotype, phenotype, and fitness and analysis of evolutionary experiments
(iii) Predicting the dynamics of viral infectious diseases using evolutionary ecology theory
Mathematical biology fits widely into various fields of biological sciences with bioinformatics analysis, and we would like to contribute to life sciences from evolutionry aspects.

Charge

Message

With the improvement of sequencing technology and computational resource, life sciences are undergoing a major transformation into a discipline based on comprehensive collection and analysis of big data. Mathematical modeling and data analysis not only provide biologically meaningful information from complex data, but also present the exact logic and new concepts that can be realized using mathematics. Based on an evolutionary perspective, we aim to understand the life science field not only in specific areas but widely.

Representative Publications

Yamaguchi, R., Wiley, B., and Otto, S.P. 2022. The phoenix hypothesis of speciation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 289: 20221186.

MacPherson, A., Wang, S., Yamaguchi, R., Rieseberg, L.H., and Otto, S. P. 2022. Parental population range expansion before secondary contact promotes heterosis. The American Naturalist, 200: E1-E15.

Yamaguchi, R., Iwasa, Y., and Tachiki, Y. 2021. Recurrent speciation rates on islands decline with species number. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 288: 20210255.

Yamaguchi, R. and Otto, S.P. 2020. Insights from Fisher’s geometric model on the likelihood of speciation under different histories of environmental change. Evolution 74: 1603-1619.

Yamaguchi, R. and Iwasa, Y. 2013. First passage time to allopatric speciation. Journal of Royal Society Interface Focus 3: 20130026.

Refer to HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS DIRECTORY

Note

<Office Hour>
– Time: Anytime during the lecture period
– Place: Science Bldg. No.2, 7F, #2-706
Please contact in advance by E-mail.
E-mail: ryamaguchi[at]sci.hokudai.ac.jp

Affiliation