Ricardo Mallarino Position Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology Website Mallarino lab website Office Phone 609-258-8964 Email [email protected] Assistant Galo Guerrero Office Guyot Hall, 8 Bio/Description FocusThe molecular basis of evolutionary change.ResearchThe Mallarino lab is broadly interested in addressing two questions:What are the genetic and developmental mechanisms by which morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits are established?How are these processes modified during evolutionary time to produce the spectacular phenotypic diversity seen in nature?To answer these questions, we combine the study of emerging model organisms, because of their diverse, naturally occurring and ecologically relevant phenotypes, with traditional model species, because of the powerful molecular and genetic tools available. We use a variety of approaches, including experimental embryology, transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling, comparative genomics, functional genetics, and imaging, to uncover gene function and understand mechanisms of evolutionary change.Please navigate to the lab research page to find a description of the different projects that are currently ongoing in our labBiographyRicardo Mallarino is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Originally from Bogota, Colombia, he graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Universidad de los Andes. He completed his graduate studies at Harvard in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in 2011, working with Arhat Abzhanov on developmental mechanisms underlying beak shape diversity in Darwin’s finches and their close relatives. After completing his PhD. he joined Hopi Hoekstra’s lab at Harvard, where he established a new model species and developed tools for studying the molecular basis of pigment pattern formation in mammals. Dr. Mallarino’s research focuses on understanding the genetic and developmental mechanisms by which form and structure are regulated during vertebrate embryogenesis and elucidating how these processes get modified during evolutionary time to produce phenotypic diversity.Honors & Awards2021Vallee Scholar2019Searle ScholarSloan Fellow Education Ph.D., Biology, Harvard UniversityB.S., Biology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Selected Publications 1.Moreno J, Dudchenko O, Feigin C, Mereby S, Chen Z, Ramos R, Almet A, Sen H, Brack B, Johnson M, Li S, Wang W, Gaska J, Ploss A, Weisz D, Omer A, Yao W, Colaric Z, Kaur P, St Leger J, Nie Q, Mena A, Flanagan J, Keller G, Sanger T, Ostrow B, Plikus M V, Kvon E, Aiden E, Mallarino R. Emx2 underlies the development and evolution of marsupial gliding membranes. Nature. 2024;629(8010):127–135. PMCID: PMC11062917 1.Staps M, Miller P, Tarnita C, Mallarino R. Development shapes the evolutionary diversification of rodent stripe patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2023;120(45):e2312077120. PMCID: PMC10636316 1.Johnson M, Li S, Guerrero-Juarez C, Miller P, Brack B, Mereby S, Moreno J, Feigin C, Gaska J, Rivera-Perez J, Nie Q, Ploss A, Shvartsman S, Mallarino R. A multifunctional Wnt regulator underlies the evolution of rodent stripe patterns. Nature ecology & evolution. 2023;7(12):2143–2159. PMCID: PMC10839778 1.Li S, Mereby S, Rothstein M, Johnson M, Brack B, Mallarino R. TIGER: Single-step in vivo genome editing in a non-traditional rodent. Cell reports. 2023;42(8):112980. PMCID: PMC10528174 1.Richardson R, Feigin C, Bano-Otalora B, Johnson M, Allen A, Park J, McDowell R, Mereby S, Lin I-H, Lucas R, Mallarino R. The genomic basis of temporal niche evolution in a diurnal rodent. Current biology : CB. 2023;33(15):3289–3298.e6. PMCID: PMC10529858 1.Feigin C, Moreno J, Ramos R, Mereby S, Alivisatos A, Wang W, van Amerongen R, Camacho J, Rasweiler J, Behringer R, Ostrow B, Plikus M V, Mallarino R. Convergent deployment of ancestral functions during the evolution of mammalian flight membranes. Science advances. 2023;9(12):eade7511. PMCID: PMC10038344 1.Kratochwil C, Mallarino R. Mechanisms Underlying the Formation and Evolution of Vertebrate Color Patterns. Annual review of genetics. 2023;57:135–156. PMCID: PMC10805968 1.Rogers F, Peña C, Mallarino R. African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio) as a neurobehavioral model for male parental care. Hormones and behavior. 2023;152:105364. PMID: 37087766 1.Feigin C, Li S, Moreno J, Mallarino R. The GRN concept as a guide for evolutionary developmental biology. Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution. 2023;340(2):92–104. PMCID: PMC9515236 1.Mallarino R, Manceau M, Kronforst M. Editorial: Evo-Devo of Color Pattern Formation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [Internet]. 2021;9. Referenced from www.frontiersin.org: Editorial: Evo-Devo of Color Pattern Formation View all publications 1.Caro T, Mallarino R. Coloration in Mammals. Trends in ecology & evolution. 2020;35(4):357–366. PMCID: PMC10754262 Related News Mallarino Lab: How gliding marsupials wing it Harsha Sen, Best Student Talk Awardee Research Area Cell Biology, Development & Cancer Genetics & Genomics