Masters student (Comp Sci)
slepicka at email dot arizona dot edu
Ph. 520 626 1727
Office: BSW122
B.A. Engineering
B.S. Computer Science
I am interested in preadaptation in Saccharomyces. I have found that Ka/Ks is a little less than one in yeast sequences believed to be untranslated, consistent with low levels of selection against aberrant translation products. These low levels of selection provide a sufficient condition for preadaptation (Masel 2006). I am currently investigating which sequences have stronger Ka/Ks signal in an attempt to pin down the proximate cause. It has recently become clear that the majority of the Saccharomyces genome is transcribed at least occasionally, and my work suggests that much of it might also be occasionally translated. This has implications for the origin of new protein-coding genes.