LEVERAGING POPULATION GENOMICS ACROSS TWO TAXONOMICALLY DIVERSE NON-MODEL SYSTEMS TO UNDERSTAND PATTERNS OF DISEASE TRANSMISSION AND CONSEQUENCES OF HYBRIDIZATION

Abstract

**Please note that the full text is embargoed until 05/10/2025** ABSTRACT: The field of population genomics has been mainly applied to questions centered around understanding molecular variation, impacts of evolutionary processes, and the history of populations. Here I leverage population genomic techniques across two different systems to understand patterns of disease transmission across heavily monitored and controlled parasite populations and consequences of hybridization between divergent rattlesnake lineages. I employed multiple genome sequencing techniques with new methods to infer close-order relatedness from highly inbred human blood fluke populations in order to understand transmission pathways across a region experiencing a resurgence in disease. I then use a comparative population genomic approach by sampling other countries that have less control efforts to look for patterns of control-driven selection within our study region. Finally, I use reduced representation sequencing across a rattlesnake hybrid zone to understand the underlying evolutionary impact hybrid fitness. Collectively, this work provides an example of how population genomic can be utilized to answer a diverse range of questions ranging from selection patterns on parasites undergoing intense control efforts to the consequences of hybridization across millions of years.