CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics

HU Yibo

2018-10-24 | | 【Print】

From 2008 to 2011, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Wei Fuwen’s lab at Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.He works as an assistant professor at Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences from 2011 to 2012. Then he is an associate professor from 2013 to 2016. He was promoted to be a professor since 2017.His major research interests are conservation genetics and genomics of endangered mammals. Dr. HU was recipient of National Excellent Young Scientist of Animal Ecology in 2011, and he was a member of Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2016.He was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Key Research & Development Project of Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the Supporting Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Research Interest

His research interests are conservation genetics and genomics of endangered mammals. He aims to reveal spatio-temporal distribution and evolutionary pattern of genetic variations in endangered animals, and to uncover the molecular and developmental mechanisms underlying the evolution of adaptive traits from the perspective of evolutionary conservation genomics.

Conservation genetics focuses on understanding the genetic factors underlying the species endangerment and extinction, and conserving the species’ genetic diversity and evolutionary potential. The application of genomic techniques and methods raises a new field of conservation genomics. Conservation genomics not only studies the traditional problems at the genome level, but also reveals the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution and local adaptation, providing further insights into the adaptive mechanisms and endangered process of species. Dr. HU used the conservation flagship species——giant panda and red panda as the study objects, and revealed the convergent evolution, genetic diversity and demographic history of both pandas. The main findings have been published inPNAS, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Ecology, Molecular Ecology, Ecology and Evolution, etc.

Selected Publications

1. Yu LJ, Nie YG, Yan L, Hu YB*, Wei FW. 2018. No evidence for MHC-based mate choice in wild giant pandas. Ecology and Evolution, doi: 10.1002/ece3.4419.

2. Ma S, Wu Q, Hu YB*, Wei FW. 2018. Patterns and effects of GC3 heterogeneity and parsimony informative sites on the phylogenetic tree of genes. Gene, 655, 56-60.

3. Hu YB, Wu Q, Ma S, Ma TX, Shan L, Wang X, Nie YG, Ning ZM, Yan L, Xiu YF, Wei FW*. 2017. Comparative genomics reveals convergent evolution between the bamboo-eating giant and red pandas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(5), 1081-1086.

4. Hu YB, Nie YG, Wei W, Ma TX, Van Horn R, Zheng XG, Swaisgood RR, Zhou ZX, Zhou WL, Yan L, Zhang ZJ, Wei FW*. 2017. Inbreeding and inbreeding avoidance in wild giant pandas. Molecular Ecology, 26(20), 5793-5806.

5. Wang D, Hu YB*, Ma TX, Nie YG, Xie Y, Wei FW. 2016. Noninvasive genetics provides insights into the population size and genetic diversity of an Amur tiger population in China. Integrative Zoology, 11(1), 16-24.

6. Chen ML^#, Hu YB^#, Liu JX, Wu Q, Zhang CL, Yu J, Xiao JF*, Wei FW*, Wu JY*. 2015. Improvement of genome assembly completeness and identification of novel full-length protein-coding genes by RNA-seq in the giant panda genome. Scientific Reports, 5, 18019.

7. Wei FW*, Hu YB, Yan L, Nie YG, Wu Q, Zhang ZJ. 2015. Giant pandas are not an evolutionary cul-de-sac: evidence from multidisciplinary research. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32(1), 4-12.

8. Shan L^#, Hu YB^#, Zhu LF, Yan L, Wang CD, Li DS, Jin XL, Zhang CL, Wei FW*. 2014. Large-scale genetic survey provides insights into the captive management and reintroduction of giant pandas. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 31(10), 2663-2671.

9. Zhu LF^#, Hu YB^#, Qi DW, Wu H, Zhan XJ, Zhang ZJ, Bruford MW, Wang JL, Yang XY, Gu XD, Zhang L, Zhang BW, Zhang SN, Wei FW*. 2013. Genetic consequences of historical anthropogenic and ecological events on giant pandas. Ecology, 94(10), 2346-2357.

10. Wei FW*, Hu YB, Zhu LF, Bruford MW, Zhan XJ, Zhang L. 2012. Black and white and read all over: the past, present and future of giant panda genetics. Molecular Ecology, 21(23), 5660-5674.

11. Hu YB, Guo Y, Qi DW, Zhan XJ, Wu H, Bruford MW, Wei FW*. 2011. Genetic structuring and recent demographic history of red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) inferred from microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology, 20, 2662-2675.

12. Hu YB, Zhan XJ, Qi DW, Wei FW*. 2010. Spatial genetic structure and dispersal of giant pandas on a mountain-range scale. Conservation Genetics, 11, 2145-2155.

13. Hu YB, Qi DW, Wang HJ, Wei FW*. 2010. Genetic evidence of recent population contraction in the southernmost population of giant pandas. Genetica, 138, 1297-1306.

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