Kathy_Feng-Yi_Su

Kathy Feng-Yi Su

Kathy Feng-Yi Su

Singaporean biologist

Kathy Feng-Yi Su is an entomologist and evolutionary biologist from Singapore. She is an academic researcher, whose work focusses on sexual dimorphism particularly in the family Sepsidae.

Research

Orygma luctuosum (Puniamoorthy, Feng-Yi Su, and Meier, 2008)

Su is an expert in sexual dimorphism across species and her research in Diptera has shown how it is affected by ecological and molecular mechanisms.[1] As an entomologist she is a leading expert in Sepsidae taxonomy.[2] She is also interested in phylogeny, including the theoretical aspects of sequence data analysis.[3]

Taxonomy

Su described a new species of sepsid fly, Themira Iohmanus, discovered in from Central Park.[4] The genera has only thirteen species, so the discovery of an additional species is highly notable, particularly because its location is in one of the most intensely populated cities in the world.[5]

Sexual dimorphism

Su has researched mating behaviours in several species, but her most significant work is on flies and how genetic and social processes produce sexual dimorphism.

Social Behaviour in Courtship and Genetics

Su has studied the link between mating call and genetics in South-East Asian anuran (frog) populations[6] and male and female courtship behaviour in jumping spiders.[7] This research has shown that genetic links between certain courtship behaviours can be seen within in species, which has an impact on our understanding of evolution.

Sepsidae Research

Working within international scientific programmes, Su's research into the evolution of sepsid flies, has a particular emphasis on functional change and sexual dimorphism in sepsid species.[8] Her research has shown how abdominal appendages in sepsid flies developed[9] and how they are influenced by histoblast nest size.[10] How mounting position can produce sexual dimorphisms in sepsid flies.[11] How and why genetically fly pigmentation emerged and diverged.[12] How site specific mutations can cause produce contradictory phenotypes as a process in evolution.[13]


Education

Su completed her doctoral research at Aix-Marseille University, France, after completing her BA and MA at the National University of Singapore.[14] She is Lee Kuan Yew Post-doctoral Fellow at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Biological Sciences.

Awards[15]

2014 - Present Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship
2013 EDEN Research Exchange Grant
2010 - 2011 ARC Foundation for cancer research
2007 - 2010 French Ministry of Higher Education and Research Award
2007 Brundin Award, student presentation prize at the 26th Annual Willi Hennig Society Meeting, New Orleans, USA


References

  1. [1]
    "Kathy SU Feng Yi". evolution.science.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  2. [2]
    "Sepsidae Taxonomy". ResearchGate.
  3. [3]
    "Evolutionary Biology Lab : Kathy Su Feng Yi". Retrieved 2019-11-30.
  4. [4]
    Ang, Yuchen; Meier, Rudolf; Su, Kathy Feng-Yi; Rajaratnam, Gowri (2017-09-18). "Hidden in the urban parks of New York City: Themira lohmanus, a new species of Sepsidae described based on morphology, DNA sequences, mating behavior, and reproductive isolation (Sepsidae, Diptera)". ZooKeys (698): 95–111. doi:10.3897/zookeys.698.13411. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 5673861. PMID 29134024.
  5. [5]
    Pskhun (2017-09-30). "Species New to Science: [Entomology • 2017] Themira lohmanus • Hidden in the Urban Parks of New York City: A New Species of Themira (Sepsidae, Diptera) Described Based on Morphology, DNA Sequences, Mating Behavior, and Reproductive Isolation". Species New to Science. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  6. [6]
    Sheridan, J. A.; D. P. Bickford; Kathy F.Y. (2010). "An examination of call and genetic variation in three wide-ranging Southeast Asian anuran species" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 58 (2): 369–79.
  7. [7]
    Su, Kathy F.Y.; Li, Daiqin (2006). "Female-biased predation risk and its differential effect on the male and female courtship behaviour of jumping spiders". Animal Behaviour. 71 (3): 531–537. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.04.024. S2CID 53165517.
  8. [8]
    Puniamoorthy, Nalini; Su, Kathy Feng-Yi; Meier, Rudolf (2008-05-21). "Bending for love: losses and gains of sexual dimorphisms are strictly correlated with changes in the mounting position of sepsid flies (Sepsidae: Diptera)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8 (1): 155. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-155. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 2409323. PMID 18492287.
  9. [9]
    Su, Kathy; Rajaratnam, Gowri; Meier, Rudolf (2017). "Sex ticklers and dirty flies: The development and evolution of a novel abdominal appendage in male sepsid flies". Mechanisms of Development. 145: S21. doi:10.1016/j.mod.2017.04.585. S2CID 49549333.
  10. [10]
    Melicher, Dacotah; Su, Kathy F Y; Meier, Rudolf; Bowsher, Julia H (December 2018). "Comparative analysis reveals the complex role of histoblast nest size in the evolution of novel insect abdominal appendages in Sepsidae (Diptera)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 18 (1): 151. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1265-3. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 6186081. PMID 30314458.
  11. [11]
    Puniamoorthy, Nalini; Su, Kathy; Meier, Rudolf (2008). "Bending for love: losses and gains of sexual dimorphisms are strictly correlated with changes in the mounting position of sepsid flies (Sepsidae: Diptera)". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8 (1): 155. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-155. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 2409323. PMID 18492287.
  12. [12]
    Arnoult, L.; Su, K. F. Y.; Manoel, D.; Minervino, C.; Magrina, J.; Gompel, N.; Prud'homme, B. (2013-03-22). "Emergence and Diversification of Fly Pigmentation Through Evolution of a Gene Regulatory Module". Science. 339 (6126): 1423–1426. Bibcode:2013Sci...339.1423A. doi:10.1126/science.1233749. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 23520110. S2CID 12778790.
  13. [13]
    Rajaratnam, Gowri; Supeinthiran, Ahiraa; Meier, Rudolf; Su, Kathy F.Y. (2018). "CRISPR/Cas9 deletions in a conserved exon of Distal-less generates gains and losses in a recently acquired morphological novelty in flies". iScience. 10: 222–233. Bibcode:2018iSci...10..222R. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2018.11.036. PMC 6297884. PMID 30553946.
  14. [14]
    "Kathy Su Feng Yi | National University of Singapore - Academia.edu". nus.academia.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  15. [15]
    "Kathy SU Feng Yi". evolution.science.nus.edu.sg. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
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