Anita Malhotra
Senior Lecturer
School of Biological Sciences
Bangor University
United Kingdom
Biography
Dr Anita Malhotra is a molecular ecologist and evolutionary geneticist. She developed the first robust molecular phylogenies for Asian pitvipers based on both mitchodondrial and nuclear markers, revealing new cryptic species and resulting in the radical revision of the taxonomy of the group (funded by the Leverhulme and Wellcome Trusts, and NERC). More recently, she has used this phylogeny to test hypotheses about the evolution of specific venom components such as the phospholipase A2 enzymes (funded by NERC), using a multidisciplinary genomic, proteomic and functional approach. She has active collaborations all over the world with other academic institutions and research-based SMEs (particularly in Europe, India, China and Japan). She has also studied the molecular ecology and population genetics of island lizards to investigate the dynamics of natural selection, vicariance and evolutionary response to changing environmental conditions, including that experienced by invasive species such as Anolis cristatellus in Dominica, West Indies. Both aspects of the work have attracted media attention and been covered by BBC Wildlife, the Sunday Telegraph, and Radio 4 as well as in local news media. More recently, she has been involved in investigation of honeybee genetics, both in relation to tracking the results of bee breeding programs for stock improvement as well as providing genetic tools for distinguishing between native and imported races of honeybees in the UK.
Research Interest
She has also studied the molecular ecology and population genetics of island lizards to investigate the dynamics of natural selection, vicariance and evolutionary response to changing environmental conditions, including that experienced by invasive species such as Anolis cristatellus in Dominica
Publications
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Malhotra, A., K. Dawson, P. Guo, R.S. Thorpe. 2011. Phylogenetic structure and species boundaries in the mountain pitviper Ovophis monticola (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae) in Asia. Mol. Phylogen. Evol., 59(2):444-57;
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Malhotra A, Simon Creer, John B. Harris, Reto Stöcklin, Philippe Favreau, Roger S. Thorpe. 2013. Predicting function from sequence in a large multifunctional toxin family. Toxicon, 72:113-25. Doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2013.06.019.