Welcome to the Lavrov Lab
We are a research group in the department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University.
Our main research interests are the evolution of major groups of animals and their genomes.
We are particularly focused on marine non-bilaterian taxa, including Porifera (sponges),
Cnidaria (corals, jellyfishes), and Ctenophora (comb jellies).
While morphologically simple and moderately speciose, these groups harbor a large portion of animal genomic diversity that we are only now beginning to explore.
Our research can be divided into three major areas: 1) comparative genomics, the comparison of biological information derived from whole-genome sequences, 2) phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary relationships among organisms (aka Tree of Life), and 3) mito-nuclear coevolution – exploration of interdependence between changes in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. In our studies we combine field work, bench work, and computational analysis. Students in our group come are involved in several interdepartmental graduate programs, including Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genetics and Genomics, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
We are always looking for new graduate and undergraduate students to join the team (more info) !
We are grateful for previous funding from Iowa State University, Human Frontiers Science Program, and the US National Science Foundation.
News
February 2025Dennis Lavrov contributed to three articles published since the last update: a review on MutS gene family's expansion in plants in The Plant Cell , a description of four new species of Haplosclerida Zootaxa , and a study of mitochondrial tRNA gene evolution and loss in Clade B of haplosclerid sponges in GBE .
January 2025Samantha Weers joined the lab as an undergraduate research assistant. Welcome Samantha!
January 2025Samantha Kruse and Sharon Wirth joined the lab as part of the First-Year Honors Mentor Program. Welcome Samantha and Sharon!
November 2024Mudith Ekanayake has successfully defended his Master's thesis: 'Deciphering the gebnomic landscape of demosponges: From gene conservation to evolutionary innovation.' Congratulations, Mudith!
September 2024Abdelraouf Dapour joined the lab as a rotation student. Welcome Raouf! 
July 2024
Dennis Lavrov and Jan Vicente had a successful collection trip to La Parguera, Puerto Rico
July 2024Momin Ahmed and Dennis Lavrov presented at the SMBE meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
April 16, 2024Olivia Lamb and Eric Qi presented their first year honors project at the ISU Annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression
March 20-22, 2024Dennis Lavrov presented a talk "Exploring the connection between unusual mt-genome organization, peculiar population biology of calcaronean sponges, and mRNA editing in their mitochondria" at the Biology Across Scales Symposium at the Gulbenkian Insitute of Science in Oeiras, Portugal.