Melissa Toups

Melissa Toups
  • Faculty
  • Assistant Professor

Biography

Melissa is an evolutionary biologist using empirical and computational tools to study the evolution of sex chromosomes. She is interested in why some sex chromosomes turnover more frequently than others, what evolutionary forces drive the suppression of recombination, and understanding the significance and maintenance of polymorphic sex chromosomes. She's explored these questions in a variety of taxa, including mosquitoes, birds, butterflies, frogs, plants, shrimp, and flies. 

Student Research/Collaboration

  • Sex-chromosome evolution
  • Transitions between sexual systems
  • Polyploidy
  • Genome evolution

Publications

  • Layana, L., M.A. Toups*, and B. Vicoso*. Causes and consequences of sex-chromosome turnover in Dipterans. Accepted: Evolution Letters. 
  • Tolman, E., D. Bobo, P.B. Frandsen, J.L. Ware, M.A.Toups, G. Sahlen, and M. K. Kohli. 2025. First Genomic Insights into an Aeshnidae Dragonfly: Unveiling the Genome of a Holarctic Species, Aeshna juncea. In press: International Journal of Odonatology. 
  • Ishikawa, Y., M.A. Toups, M. Elkrewi, A Zajac., S. Horne-Badovinac, and Y. Matsubayashi. 2025. Evidence for the major role of PH4alphaEFB in the prolyl 4-hydroxylation of Drosophila collagen IV. Matrix Biology 141: 101-113. 
  • Buchanan, A.E.V., D. Andreou, K.H. Hodder, M.A. Toups, P.K. Gillingham, M. Cvitanovic, H. Butler, and E.A. Hardouin. 2025. Conservation of an isolated and genetically unique population: Red squirrels on the Isle of Wight. Biodiversity and Conservation. /10.1007/s10531-025-03134-6. 
  • M.A. Toups and B. Vicoso. Insect sex-chromosome evolution: conservation, turnover, and mechanisms of dosage compensation. 2025. Current Opinion in Insect Science (72): 101411.