Alexey M. Kulikov
Dr. Sci. (Biol.)
Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences.
Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Bioinformatics
In the 1990s Kulikov AM has developed a recurrence model for the dependence of the lethal mutations elimination on fitness components. The method of estimating unknown fitness components is based on the known estimates of other components and a relationship among the known and unknown components calculated from the frequency dynamics. Using the new method, we have a biological explanation of non-uniqueness of the admissible solutions. The method employs analysis of the form of the admissible solution region (at preset confidence intervals for the observed frequencies) in the space of the possible values. The solution of this model allowed to evaluate the selection by the fitness components in a number of generations.
In 2000-2004 Kulikov AM participated in bioinformatics project GeneGo (T.Nikolskaja), in projecting metabolic and signaling maps and networks.
Later he worked with sibling species of Drosophila virilis group. It was analyzed quantitative differences between Drosophila species with respect to the shape of the wings and phallus. The estimation of the differences was based on the standard morphometric analysis of a two-dimensional sagittal projection of the organs and the use of multivariate statistics for estimation of the observed variation. An uneven rate of accumulation of species-specific variability in the evolutionary pedigrees of related species and mainly unidirectional changes in quantitative characters were shown. The relationship between sexual selection and the shape of the genital organ of Drosophila is due to mechanoreception carried out by microchaetae in the most variable areas of the aedeagus.
