Dr. Matt Gilg Assistant Professor B.S. Hastings College, 1994 M.S. Eastern Illinois University, 1996 Ph.D University of South Carolina, 2002 Joined UNF faculty in 2003. Email: mgilg@unf.edu

Teaching:  Genetics, Evolution, Population Genetics, General Biology I, Current Applications in Biology (Environmental Science)

Research:  Ecological genetics and evolutionary ecology.

I am interested in a variety of evolutionary questions including the genetics and process of speciation, species interactions and hybridization.  I currently have several study systems that students in my lab are researching. 

One of my study systems involves a hybrid zone between two mussel species (Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis) in Western Europe.  My previous work in this system concentrated on the interplay between selection and dispersal in maintaining a stable hybrid population while at the same time keeping the “pure” populations distinct from one another.  Dispersal and natural selection were observed using PCR of species-specific genetic markers.  Currently I am investigating the mechanisms that lead to the rapid evolution of the reproductive protein M7 lysin and the role this may play in speciation events in marine invertebrates.  I recently received funding through the National Science Foundation to conduct this research and am looking for a graduate student to go with me on a trip to England to study fertilization success of mussels with different M7 lysin genotypes.

A second study system involves the investigation of a potential sympatric speciation event in a gall forming fly (Asphondilia borrichiae) in collaboration with Dr. Tony Rossi.  These flies deposit their eggs in three different species of plants in the family Asteracea and these plants form large galls in which the fly larvae develop.  Laboratory evidence suggests that flies tend to lay their eggs on the same species of plant that they emerged from.  Therefore, there may be specific fly races occupying each host plant species that are diverging from each other since they do not typically mate with individuals born on a different host plant species.  In order to assess the level of divergence and amount of assortative mating we are assaying the population genetics of fly populations occupying different host plants from various sites using DNA sequencing and AFLP fingerprinting.

A third area of research that is beginning to take a more prominent place in my laboratory is work on the local invasive green mussel, Perna viridis.  Green mussels are native to Asia and have been introduced to several locations in the Caribbean and Florida over the last 15 years.  I currently have students studying their reproductive cycle, current distribution and abundance, larval settlement patterns, the genetic structure of introduced and native populations and the effects of cold temperature on survival.  These projects involve a significant field component and also laboratory components including DNA sequencing, AFLP fingerprinting and Western blots of heat shock proteins.

The fourth current research endeavor involves an assessment of the geographic range and the prevalence of hybridization between two species of killifish, Fundulus grandis and Fundulus heteroclitus.  These two species overlap in range in northeastern Florida and occupy the same habitats as adults.  I am currently researching species-specific larval habitat use in collaboration with Dr. Kelly Smith.  This research involves identifying killifish larvae to the species level using diagnostic genetic markers.  Future studies will focus on differences in temporal or spatial use of the salt marsh by Fundulus larvae of different species. 

Recent Publications:

Gonzalez, I., M. Levin, S. Jermanus, B. Watson, and M.R. Gilg.  Genetic assessment of species ranges in Fundulus heteroclitus and F. grandis.  In Press Southeastern Nat..

Galleher, S.N., M.R. Gilg and K.J. Smith.  Comparison of sub-adult thermal maxima in Fundulus heteroclitus and F. grandis.  In Press Fish Physiology and Biochemistry.

Matthew R. Gilg, R. Sullivan, S. Kirby, L. Knapp and T.J. Hilbish.  2007.  Dispersal vs. retention; correspondence of species-specific reproductive cycles and settlement periods in a blue mussel hybrid zone.  Marine Ecology Progress Series 351:  151-161.

Matthew R. Gilg and Thomas J. Hilbish.  2003.  Dispersal patterns of mussel larvae throughout a hybrid zone in Southwest England.  Evolution.  57:  1061-1077.

Matthew R. Gilg and Thomas J. Hilbish.  2003.  Geography of marine larval dispersal:  Coupling genetics with fine-scale physical oceanography.  Ecology.  84:  2989-2998.

Matthew R. Gilg and Kipp C. Kruse.  2003.  Reproduction effects lifespan in the Giant Waterbug, Belostoma flumineum.  Am. Mid. Nat.  149:  306-319.

Matthew R. Gilg and Thomas J. Hilbish.  2003.  Spatio-temporal patterns of larval settlement and genetics in a blue mussel hybrid zone.  Marine Biology.  143:  679-690.

Hilbish, T.J., J. Timmons, V. Agrawal, K. Schneider and M.R. Gilg.  2003.  Estuarine habitats protect hybrid mussels from selection.  J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.  292:  177-186.

Hilbish, T.J., E.W. Carson, J. R. Plante, L.A. Weaver, and M.R. Gilg.  2002.  Distribution of Mytilus edulis, M. galloprovincialis, and their hybrids in open-coast populations of mussels in southwest England.  Marine Biology.  140:  137-142.

Anthony S. Anderson, A.L. Bilodeau, M.R. Gilg, and T.J. Hilbish.  2002.  Distribution of the blue mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, M. trossulus and their hybrids in the Puget Sound and Hood Canal.  J. Shell. Res.  21:  75-79.

Matthew R. Gilg and Thomas J. Hilbish.  2000.  The Relationship Between Allele Frequency and Tidal Height in a Blue Mussel Hybrid Zone, a Test of the Differential Settlement Hypothesis.   Marine Biology.  137:  371-378.