Margarida Matos

Group Leader

Experimental Evolution Laboratory Adaptation Evolution Under Climate Change Historical Contingencies

I received a Ph.D. in Biology (Genetics) from the University of Lisbon in 1997 and I am currently leading the research group ‘Local Adaptation in Drosophila’ of the thematic live ‘Evolutionary Perspectives in a Changing World’ of CE3C. I am a full professor at the Department of Animal Biology of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, where I teach Evolutionary Biology and Experimental Evolution. I am the coordinator of the PhD programme Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution at ULisboa, a joint programme of the University of Lisbon and the University of Porto. I am also the organizer of the CE3C Advanced Courses targeting particularly PhD students.

My research focuses on the understanding of the genetic basis of adaptation and the characterization of the evolutionary patterns and processes underlying local adaptation. Using experimental evolution as tool and Drosophila subobscura as model organism I have been for many years involved in real-time evolution studies using the laboratory as a novel environment to which populations may adapt.

My current research is driven by two overarching objectives: 1) Clarifying the role of History, Chance and Selection during Adaptive Evolution; 2) Studying the genetic basis of local adaptation and its implication for the evolutionary potential of populations under novel challenges.

The main ongoing project pursued in my laboratory involves the analysis of evolutionary changes of Drosophila subobscura populations founded from contrasting latitudes in a wide range of phenotypic traits (life-histories, morphological, physiological, mating behaviour), chromosomal inversions, genomic and transcriptomic patterns during laboratory adaptation. This main line of research is now focused on the study of thermal adaptation and how the response differs as a function of previous history, a goal started in the FCT project ADAPTCLIMWARM led by Pedro Simões (PI) and myself (Co-PI).

I also collaborate with colleagues tackling other evolutionary questions and using other tools and model organisms: I participate in the FCT project ‘MULTIE: Phenotypic plasticity in multifactorial environments (led by Patrícia Beldade); I am a consultant in the ERC project DynamicTrio led by Inês Fragata. Finally I also collaborate in projects linking science and society, e.g. the GrowLife project, a Life project led by Sara Magalhães.

I have long-term collaborations with several colleagues working abroad on a range of topics in Evolutionary Genetics, Evolutionary Ecology and Experimental Evolution: in particular Mauro Santos (Univ. Autonoma Barcelona) and Michael R. Rose (Univ California Irvine). These collaborations have resulted in several publications throughout the years as well as co-supervisions of PhD students, funded programmes and research networks.

I belong to the editorial boards of the journals Frontiers in Genetics and Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.