Jennifer Jo Wernegreen | Scholars@Duke

Jennifer Jo Wernegreen
Associate Professor of Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics in the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy

Research in our lab centers on environmental and evolutionary genomics, primarily in bacteria. Broadly, our group explores mechanisms shaping genetic and functional variation in microbes that play important roles in the natural environment. Much of our work integrates evolutionary, population genetic, computational, and molecular approaches to clarify how bacterial genomes change over time. Among these studies, we are exploring how ecological interactions – such as symbiosis - influence genome content and architecture of the species involved. Conversely, we also explore how genomic alterations can impact microbial functions and interactions. As models to link genomics and environmental biology, we largely focus on mutualistic microbes, including bacteria that supply essential nutrients to invertebrate hosts.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Associate Professor of Environmental and Evolutionary Genomics in the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment 2010

Contact Information

101 Science Drive, Box 3382, 2175 CIEMAS, Durham, NC 27708
101 Science Drive, CIEMAS Rm. 2175, Duke University, Box 3382, Durham, NC 27708
j.wernegreen@duke.edu (919) 681-0331
Website

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Yale University 1998
Duke Appointment History
- Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2018
- Investigator in the Institute for Genome Scieces & Policy, Institutes and Centers, School of Medicine 2010 - 2014
Recognition
In the News
- MAY 7, 2019
  
  Duke Adds 21 Faculty to Distinguished Faculty Rank
Expertise
Subject Headings
Global Scholarship
- Research
  - United States of America (Country)
Research
Selected Grants
- Summer Scholars Program in Genome Sciences and Medicine awarded by National Institutes of Health 2017 - 2022
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Training Program awarded by National Institutes of Health 2005 - 2021
- How Responsive are Bacterial Endosymbionts to Physiological and Eological Variation in Their Ant Hosts? awarded by National Science Foundation 2010 - 2014
- Mechanisms and Consequences of Deleterious Evolution in Bacteria awarded by National Institutes of Health 2001 - 2013
- Illumina Hi-Seq 2000 Sequencing System awarded by National Institutes of Health 2012 - 2013
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "In it for the long haul: evolutionary consequences of persistent endosymbiosis." Current opinion in genetics & development 47 (December 2017): 83-90. (Review) Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Ancient bacterial endosymbionts of insects: Genomes as sources of insight and springboards for inquiry." Experimental cell research 358, no. 2 (September 2017): 427-432. (Review) Full Text
  - Brown, BP, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Deep divergence and rapid evolutionary rates in gut-associated Acetobacteraceae of ants." Bmc Microbiology 16, no. 1 (July 11, 2016): 140-null. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Endosymbiont evolution: predictions from theory and surprises from genomes." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1360 (December 2015): 16-35. (Review) Full Text
  - Yung, C-M, Vereen, MK, Herbert, A, Davis, KM, Yang, J, Kantorowska, A, Ward, CS, Wernegreen, JJ, Johnson, ZI, and Hunt, DE. "Thermally adaptive tradeoffs in closely related marine bacterial strains." Environmental microbiology 17, no. 7 (July 2015): 2421-2429. Full Text
  - Williams, LE, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Genome evolution in an ancient bacteria-ant symbiosis: parallel gene loss among Blochmannia spanning the origin of the ant tribe Camponotini." PeerJ 3 (January 2015): e881-. Full Text
  - Fan, Y, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Can't take the heat: high temperature depletes bacterial endosymbionts of ants." Microb Ecol 66, no. 3 (October 2013): 727-733. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "First impressions in a glowing host-microbe partnership." Cell Host Microbe 14, no. 2 (August 14, 2013): 121-123. Full Text Link to Item
  - McFall-Ngai, M, Hadfield, MG, Bosch, TCG, Carey, HV, Domazet-Lošo, T, Douglas, AE, Dubilier, N, Eberl, G, Fukami, T, Gilbert, SF, Hentschel, U, King, N, Kjelleberg, S, Knoll, AH, Kremer, N, Mazmanian, SK, Metcalf, JL, Nealson, K, Pierce, NE, Rawls, JF, Reid, A, Ruby, EG, Rumpho, M, Sanders, JG, Tautz, D, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110, no. 9 (February 7, 2013): 3229-3236. (Review) Full Text
  - Fan, Y, Thompson, JW, Dubois, LG, Moseley, MA, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Proteomic analysis of an unculturable bacterial endosymbiont (Blochmannia) reveals high abundance of chaperonins and biosynthetic enzymes." Journal of Proteome Research 12, no. 2 (February 2013): 704-718. Full Text
  - Fan, Y, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Can't Take the Heat: High Temperature Depletes Bacterial Endosymbionts of Ants." Microbial Ecology 66, no. 3 (2013): 727-733. Full Text
  - Williams, LE, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Sequence context of indel mutations and their effect on protein evolution in a bacterial endosymbiont." Genome Biology and Evolution 5, no. 3 (January 2013): 599-605. (Letter) Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Strategies of genomic integration within insect-bacterial mutualisms." Biol Bull 223, no. 1 (August 2012): 112-122. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Endosymbiosis." Current Biology : Cb 22, no. 14 (July 2012): R555-R561. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Mutualism meltdown in insects: bacteria constrain thermal adaptation." Current Opinion in Microbiology 15, no. 3 (June 2012): 255-262. (Review) Full Text
  - Williams, LE, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Purifying selection, sequence composition, and context-specific indel mutations shape intraspecific variation in a bacterial endosymbiont." Genome Biol Evol 4, no. 1 (2012): 44-51. (Letter) Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Reduced selective constraint in endosymbionts: elevation in radical amino acid replacements occurs genome-wide." PLoS One 6, no. 12 (2011): e28905-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Williams, LE, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Unprecedented loss of ammonia assimilation capability in a urease-encoding bacterial mutualist. (Published online)" BMC Genomics 11 (December 2, 2010): 687-. Full Text Open Access Copy Link to Item
  - Bordenstein, SR, Brothers, C, Wolfe, G, Bahr, M, Minckley, RL, Clark, ME, Wernegreen, JJ, Reznikoff, WS, and Werren, JH. "Using the Wolbachia bacterial symbiont to teach Inquiry-based science: A high school laboratory series." American Biology Teacher 72, no. 8 (October 1, 2010): 478-483. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Kauppinen, SN, and Degnan, PH. "Slip into something more functional: selection maintains ancient frameshifts in homopolymeric sequences." Mol Biol Evol 27, no. 4 (April 2010): 833-839. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Kauppinen, SN, Brady, SG, and Ward, PS. "One nutritional symbiosis begat another: phylogenetic evidence that the ant tribe Camponotini acquired Blochmannia by tending sap-feeding insects. (Published online)" BMC Evol Biol 9 (December 16, 2009): 292-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Wheeler, DE. "Remaining flexible in old alliances: functional plasticity in constrained mutualisms." Dna and Cell Biology 28, no. 8 (August 2009): 371-382. (Review) Full Text
  - Tamas, I, Wernegreen, JJ, Nystedt, B, Kauppinen, SN, Darby, AC, Gomez-Valero, L, Lundin, D, Poole, AM, and Andersson, SGE. "Endosymbiont gene functions impaired and rescued by polymerase infidelity at poly(A) tracts." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105, no. 39 (September 30, 2008): 14934-14939. Full Text Link to Item
  - Paraskevopoulos, C, Bordenstein, SR, Wernegreen, JJ, Werren, JH, and Bourtzis, K. "Toward a Wolbachia multilocus sequence typing system: discrimination of Wolbachia strains present in Drosophila species." Curr Microbiol 53, no. 5 (November 2006): 388-395. Full Text Link to Item
  - Bordenstein, SR, Marshall, ML, Fry, AJ, Kim, U, and Wernegreen, JJ. "The tripartite associations between bacteriophage, Wolbachia, and arthropods (vol 2, pg 10, 2006)." PLOS PATHOGENS 2, no. 10 (October 2006): 1024-1024. Full Text Link to Item
  - Bordenstein, SR, Marshall, ML, Fry, AJ, Kim, U, and Wernegreen, JJ. "The tripartite associations between bacteriophage, Wolbachia, and arthropods." PLoS Pathog 2, no. 5 (May 2006): e43-. Full Text Link to Item
  - Baldo, L, Bordenstein, S, Wernegreen, JJ, and Werren, JH. "Widespread recombination throughout Wolbachia genomes." Molecular Biology and Evolution 23, no. 2 (February 2006): 437-449. Full Text
  - Bordenstein, SR, Marshall, ML, Fry, AJ, Kim, U, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Erratum: The tripartite associations between bacteriophage, Wolbachia, and arthropods (PLoS Pathogens) 2: 5 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.0020043." PLoS Pathogens 2, no. 10 (2006): 1024--. Full Text
  - Bordenstein, SR, Marshall, ML, Fry, AJ, Kim, U, and Wernegreen, JJ. "The tripartite associations between bacteriophage, Wolbachia, and arthropods." PLoS Pathogens 2, no. 5 (2006): 384-393. Full Text
  - Casiraghi, M, Bordenstein, SR, Baldo, L, Lo, N, Beninati, T, Wernegreen, JJ, Werren, JH, and Bandi, C. "Phylogeny of Wolbachia pipientis based on gltA, groEL and ftsZ gene sequences: clustering of arthropod and nematode symbionts in the F supergroup, and evidence for further diversity in the Wolbachia tree." Microbiology 151, no. Pt 12 (December 2005): 4015-4022. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "For better or worse: genomic consequences of intracellular mutualism and parasitism." Curr Opin Genet Dev 15, no. 6 (December 2005): 572-583. (Review) Full Text Link to Item
  - Degnan, PH, Lazarus, AB, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Genome sequence of Blochmannia pennsylvanicus indicates parallel evolutionary trends among bacterial mutualists of insects." Genome Res 15, no. 8 (August 2005): 1023-1033. Full Text Link to Item
  - Fry, AJ, and Wernegreen, JJ. "The roles of positive and negative selection in the molecular evolution of insect endosymbionts." Gene 355 (August 1, 2005): 1-10. Full Text Link to Item
  - Schaber, J, Rispe, C, Wernegreen, J, Buness, A, Delmotte, F, Silva, FJ, and Moya, A. "Gene expression levels influence amino acid usage and evolutionary rates in endosymbiotic bacteria." Gene 352 (June 2005): 109-117. Full Text
  - Herbeck, JT, Degnan, PH, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Nonhomogeneous model of sequence evolution indicates independent origins of primary endosymbionts within the enterobacteriales (gamma-Proteobacteria)." Mol Biol Evol 22, no. 3 (March 2005): 520-532. Full Text Link to Item
  - Herbeck, JT, Degnan, PH, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Nonhomogeneous model of sequence evolution indicates independent origins of primary endosymbionts within the enterobacteriales (alpha-proteobacteria)." MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 22, no. 3 (March 2005): 520-532. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Funk, DJ. "Mutation exposed: a neutral explanation for extreme base composition of an endosymbiont genome." J Mol Evol 59, no. 6 (December 2004): 849-858. Full Text Link to Item
  - Bordenstein, SR, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Bacteriophage flux in endosymbionts (Wolbachia): infection frequency, lateral transfer, and recombination rates." Mol Biol Evol 21, no. 10 (October 2004): 1981-1991. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Endosymbiosis: lessons in conflict resolution." Plos Biology 2, no. 3 (March 16, 2004): E68-null. (Review) Full Text
  - Degnan, PH, Lazarus, AB, Brock, CD, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Host-symbiont stability and fast evolutionary rates in an ant-bacterium association: cospeciation of camponotus species and their endosymbionts, candidatus blochmannia." Syst Biol 53, no. 1 (February 2004): 95-110. Link to Item
  - Herbeck, JT, Funk, DJ, Degnan, PH, and Wernegreen, JJ. "A conservative test of genetic drift in the endosymbiotic bacterium Buchnera: slightly deleterious mutations in the chaperonin groEL." Genetics 165, no. 4 (December 2003): 1651-1660. Link to Item
  - Herbeck, JT, Wall, DP, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Gene expression level influences amino acid usage, but not codon usage, in the tsetse fly endosymbiont Wigglesworthia." Microbiology 149, no. 9 (September 1, 2003): 2585-2596. Full Text
  - Herbeck, JT, Wall, DP, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Gene expression level influences amino acid usage, but not codon usage, in the tsetse fly endosymbiont Wigglesworthia." Microbiology 149, no. Pt 9 (September 2003): 2585-2596. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Degnan, PH, Lazarus, AB, Palacios, C, and Bordenstein, SR. "Genome evolution in an insect cell: distinct features of an ant-bacterial partnership." Biol Bull 204, no. 2 (April 2003): 221-231. Full Text Link to Item
  - Herbeck, JT, Wall, DP, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Gene expression level influences amino acid usage, but not codon usage, in the tsetse fly endosymbiont Wigglesworthia." Microbiology 149, no. 9 (2003): 2585-2596.
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Genome evolution in bacterial endosymbionts of insects." Nature Reviews. Genetics 3, no. 11 (November 2002): 850-861. (Review) Full Text
  - Palacios, C, and Wernegreen, JJ. "A strong effect of AT mutational bias on amino acid usage in Buchnera is mitigated at high-expression genes." Molecular Biology and Evolution 19, no. 9 (September 2002): 1575-1584. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Lazarus, AB, and Degnan, PH. "Small genome of Candidatus Blochmannia, the bacterial endosymbiont of Camponotus, implies irreversible specialization to an intracellular lifestyle." Microbiology 148, no. 8 (August 1, 2002): 2551-2556.
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Lazarus, AB, and Degnan, PH. "Small genome of Candidatus Blochmannia, the bacterial endosymbiont of Camponotus, implies irreversible specialization to an intracellular lifestyle." Microbiology 148, no. Pt 8 (August 2002): 2551-2556. Full Text Link to Item
  - Tamas, I, Klasson, L, Canbäck, B, Näslund, AK, Eriksson, A-S, Wernegreen, JJ, Sandström, JP, Moran, NA, and Andersson, SGE. "50 million years of genomic stasis in endosymbiotic bacteria." Science 296, no. 5577 (June 28, 2002): 2376-2379. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Lazarus, AB, and Degnan, PH. "Small genome of Candidatus Blochmannia, the bacterial endosymbiont of Camponotus, implies irreversible specialization to an intracellular lifestyle." Microbiology 148, no. 8 (2002): 2551-2556.
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Richardson, AO, and Moran, NA. "Parallel acceleration of evolutionary rates in symbiont genes underlying host nutrition." Mol Phylogenet Evol 19, no. 3 (June 2001): 479-485. Full Text Link to Item
  - Funk, DJ, Wernegreen, JJ, and Moran, NA. "Intraspecific variation in symbiont genomes: bottlenecks and the aphid-buchnera association." Genetics 157, no. 2 (February 2001): 477-489.
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Moran, NA. "Vertical transmission of biosynthetic plasmids in aphid endosymbionts (Buchnera)." Journal of Bacteriology 183, no. 2 (January 2001): 785-790. Full Text
  - Funk, DJ, Helbling, L, Wernegreen, JJ, and Moran, NA. "Intraspecific phylogenetic congruence among multiple symbiont genomes." Proc Biol Sci 267, no. 1461 (December 22, 2000): 2517-2521. Full Text Link to Item
  - Moran, NA, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Lifestyle evolution in symbiotic bacteria: insights from genomics." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 15, no. 8 (August 2000): 321-326. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Moran, NA. "Decay of mutualistic potential in aphid endosymbionts through silencing of biosynthetic loci: Buchnera of Diuraphis." Proc Biol Sci 267, no. 1451 (July 22, 2000): 1423-1431. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Ochman, H, Jones, IB, and Moran, NA. "Decoupling of genome size and sequence divergence in a symbiotic bacterium." J Bacteriol 182, no. 13 (July 2000): 3867-3869. Link to Item
  - Clark, MA, Moran, NA, Baumann, P, and Wernegreen, JJ. "Cospeciation between bacterial endosymbionts (Buchnera) and a recent radiation of aphids (Uroleucon) and pitfalls of testing for phylogenetic congruence." Evolution 54, no. 2 (April 2000): 517-525. Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Moran, NA. "Evidence for genetic drift in endosymbionts (Buchnera): analyses of protein-coding genes." Molecular Biology and Evolution 16, no. 1 (January 1999): 83-97. Full Text
  - Wernegreen, JJ, and Riley, MA. "Comparison of the evolutionary dynamics of symbiotic and housekeeping loci: a case for the genetic coherence of rhizobial lineages." Mol Biol Evol 16, no. 1 (January 1999): 98-113. Full Text Link to Item
  - Wernegreen, JJ, Harding, EE, and Riley, MA. "Rhizobium gone native: unexpected plasmid stability of indigenous Rhizobium leguminosarum." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 94, no. 10 (May 13, 1997): 5483-5488. Link to Item
- Book Sections
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Genomic signatures of intracellularity: Evolutionary patterns and paces in bacterial mutualists and parasites." In Bacterial pathogenomics, edited by MJ Pallen, KE Nelson, and GM Preston. Amer Society for Microbiology, 2007. (Chapter)
  - Wernegreen, JJ. "Genomic signatures of intracellularity: Evolutionary patterns and paces in bacterial mutualists and parasites." In Bacterial pathogenomics, edited by MJ Pallen, KE Nelson, and GM Preston. Amer Society for Microbiology, 2007. (Chapter)
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Advising & Mentoring
- Ph.D. students:
  
  Bryan P. Brown (Environ)
  
  Jessie K. Uehling (UPGG; coadvised with R. Vilgalys)

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

In the News

Subject Headings

Global Scholarship

Research

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Recent Courses

Advising & Mentoring