Jack Da Silva

Research Interests

Evolutionary Biology Molecular Evolution Population, Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics

Dr Jack Da Silva

Senior Lecturer

School of Biological Sciences

College of Science

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

My research and teaching are focused on evolutionary genetics. Current topics of interest are:
 

Evolution of Altruism (eusociality)
Evolution of Body Size (life history)
Evolution of Sexes (anisogamy)
Evolution of Aging (senescence)
Dynamics of Cancer (carcinogenesis)

 
I approach these problems with a combination of phylogenetic comparative analyses and computer simulation. Please see my publications for recent examples.
 
Current projects include:
 

Monogamy and the evolution of eusociality. The evolution of sterile workers in social insects by kin selection is hypothesised to require long term monogamy so that the genetic relatedness between workers and reproductives is maximal. This hypothesis is being tested by estimating evolutionary transition rates between mating systems, colony structures, and worker sterility using a recent large phylogeny of bees.

 

The evolution of sexes (anisogamy). The evolution of small and large gametes (gamete dimorphism), defined as sexes, is analysed using the volvocine algae (Chlamydomonas, Volvox, etc.), which exhibit considerable variation in gamete dimorphism, ranging from isogamy, to anisogamy and oogamy (eggs and sperm). The gamete competition theory is being tested using recent evolutionary trees of the volvocine algae and modern comparative statistical methods.

 
All projects are available for honours, masters, and doctorate study.

Date Position Institution name
2003 - ongoing Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide

Date Institution name Country Title
1986 - 1989 University of Oxford United Kingdom DPhil

Date Title Institution Country
1990 - 1992 NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow McGill University, Montreal Canada

Year Citation
2024 da Silva, J. (2024). Eusocial workers must evolve before maternal control.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(52), e2422269121.
DOI Scopus2 WoS1 Europe PMC2
2023 da Silva, J. (2023). The kin selection theory of genomic imprinting and modes of reproduction in the eusocial Hymenoptera. Biological Reviews, 98(2), 677-695.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2023 Silva, J. D., & Cross, B. J. (2023). Dog Lifespans and the Evolution of Ageing. The American Naturalist, 201(6), E140-E152.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC5
2022 da Silva, J. (2022). The Extension of Foundress Life Span and the Evolution of Eusociality in the Hymenoptera. American Naturalist, 199(4), E140-E155.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC7
2022 Da Silva, J. (2022). Gene dynamics of haplodiploidy favour eusociality in the Hymenoptera. Evolution, 76(7), 1546-1555.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC4
2021 da Silva, J. (2021). Life History and the Transitions to Eusociality in the Hymenoptera. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 20 pages.
DOI Scopus24 WoS27
2020 da Silva, J. (2020). Williams’ Intuition about Extrinsic Mortality Was Correct. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 35(5), 378-379.
DOI Scopus3 WoS6 Europe PMC3
2019 da Silva, J. (2019). Plastic senescence in the honey bee and the disposable soma theory. The American Naturalist, 194(3), 367-380.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC4
2019 da Silva, J. (2019). Correction: Plastic senescence in the honeybee and the disposable soma theory (American Naturalist, 194, 3, (2019), (367-380), 10.1086/704220). American Naturalist, 194(6), 881-884.
DOI
2018 da Silva, J. (2018). The evolution of sexes: A specific test of the disruptive selection theory. Ecology and Evolution, 8(1), 207-219.
DOI Scopus13 WoS11 Europe PMC9
2018 da Silva, J. (2018). Reports of the Death of Extrinsic Mortality Moulding Senescence Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. Evolutionary Biology, 45(2), 140-143.
DOI Scopus6 WoS7
2018 Da Silva, J., & Drysdale, V. (2018). Isogamy in large and complex volvocine algae is consistent with the gamete competition theory of the evolution of anisogamy. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1890), 6 pages.
DOI Scopus11 WoS12 Europe PMC8
2017 da Silva, J., & Galbraith, J. (2017). Hill-Robertson interference maintained by Red Queen dynamics favours the evolution of sex. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 30(5), 994-1010.
DOI Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC8
2014 Da Silva, J., & Wyatt, S. (2014). Fitness valleys constrain HIV-1's adaptation to its secondary chemokine coreceptor. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 27(3), 604-615.
DOI Scopus9 WoS10 Europe PMC12
2012 Da Silva, J. (2012). Antibody selection and amino acid reversions. Evolution, 66(10), 3079-3087.
DOI WoS2 Europe PMC2
2012 Da Silva, J. (2012). BRCA1/2 mutations, fertility and the grandmother effect. Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, 279(1740), 2926-2929.
DOI Scopus7 WoS7 Europe PMC5
2012 Da Silva, J. (2012). The dynamics of HIV-1 adaptation in early infection. Genetics, 190(3), 1087-1099.
DOI Scopus14 WoS14 Europe PMC14
2010 Da Silva, J., Coetzer, M., Nedellec, R., Pastore, C., & Mosier, D. (2010). Fitness epistasis and constraints on adaptation in a human immunodeficiency virus Type 1 protein region. Genetics, 185(1), 293-303.
DOI Scopus101 WoS104 Europe PMC113
2010 Da Silva, J. (2010). An adaptive walk by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 through a fluctuating fitness landscape. Evolution, 64(4), 1160-1165.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2 Europe PMC2
2009 Da Silva, J. (2009). Amino acid covariation in a functionally important human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protein region is associated with population subdivision. Genetics, 182(1), 265-275.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC3
2009 Summers, K., Roney, K., Da Silva, J., Capraro, G., Cuthbertson, B., Kazianis, S., . . . McConnell, T. (2009). Divergent patterns of selection on the DAB and DXB MHC class II loci in Xiphophorus fishes. Genetica, 135(3), 379-390.
DOI Scopus6 WoS7 Europe PMC6
2006 Da Silva, J. (2006). Site-specific amino acid frequency, fitness and the mutational landscape model of adaptation in human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Genetics, 174(3), 1689-1694.
DOI Scopus11 WoS10 Europe PMC10
2003 Da Silva, J. (2003). The evolutionary adaptation of HIV-1 to specific immunity. Current HIV Research, 1(3), 363-371.
DOI Scopus21 WoS22 Europe PMC17
2002 Summers, K., Da Silva, J., & Farwell, M. (2002). Intragenomic conflict and cancer. Medical Hypotheses, 59(2), 170-179.
DOI Scopus19 WoS19 Europe PMC17
2002 Burke Da Silva, K., Mahan, C., & Da Silva, J. (2002). The Trill of the Chase: Eastern Chipmunks call to warn kin. Journal of Mammalogy, 83(2), 546-552.
DOI Scopus18 WoS16
2001 Hughes, A., Westover, K., Da Silva, J., O'Connor, D., & Watkins, D. (2001). Simultaneous positive and purifying selection on overlapping reading frames of the tat and vpr genes of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. Journal of Virology, 75(17), 7966-7972.
DOI Scopus61 WoS64 Europe PMC57
2001 Ferguson, M., Maxwell, J., Vincent, T., Da Silva, J., & Olson, J. (2001). Comparison of the exoS gene and protein expression in soil and clinical isolates of pseudomonas aeruginosa. Infection and Immunity, 69(4), 2198-2210.
DOI Scopus40 WoS41 Europe PMC32
2001 Hughes, A., Da Silva, J., & Friedman, R. (2001). Ancient genome duplications did not structure the human Hox-bearing chromosomes. Genome Research, 11(5), 771-780.
DOI Scopus105 WoS94 Europe PMC86
1999 Evans, D. T., O'Connor, D. H., Jing, P., Dzuris, J. L., Sidney, J., Da Silva, J., . . . Watkins, D. I. (1999). Virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses select for amino-acid variation in simian immunodeficiency virus Env and Nef. Nature Medicine, 5(11), 1270-1276.
DOI Scopus366 WoS342 Europe PMC296
1999 Gardezi, T., & Da Silva, J. (1999). Diversity in relation to body size in mammals: A comparative study. American Naturalist, 153(1), 110-123.
DOI Scopus98 WoS97 Europe PMC35
1999 Da Silva, J., & Hughes, A. L. (1999). Molecular phylogenetic evidence of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) selection on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) [4]. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 16(10), 1420-1422.
DOI Scopus9 WoS9 Europe PMC6
1998 Da Silva, J., & Hughes, A. L. (1998). Conservation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes as a host strategy to constrain parasite adaptation: Evidence from the nef gene of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). Molecular Biology and Evolution, 15(10), 1259-1268.
DOI Scopus22 WoS23 Europe PMC19
1996 Da Silva, J., & Bell, G. (1996). The ecology and genetics of fitness in Chlamydomonas. VII. The effect of sex on the variance in fitness and mean fitness. Evolution, 50(4), 1705-1713.
DOI Scopus15 Europe PMC2
1996 DaSilva, J., & Bell, G. (1996). The ecology and genetics of fitness in Chlamydomonas .7. The effect of sex on the variance in fitness and mean fitness. EVOLUTION, 50(4), 1705-1713.
DOI WoS14 Europe PMC4
1995 Woodroffe, R., Macdonald, D. W., & da Silva, J. (1995). Dispersal and philopatry in the European badger, Meles meles. Journal of Zoology, 237(2), 227-239.
DOI Scopus123 WoS108
1994 DASILVA, J., MACDONALD, D. W., & EVANS, P. G. H. (1994). NET COSTS OF GROUP LIVING IN A SOLITARY FORAGER, THE EURASIAN BADGER (MELES-MELES). BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY, 5(2), 151-158.
DOI WoS72
1994 Zeyl, C., Bell, G., & da Silva, J. (1994). Transposon abundance in sexual and asexual populations of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Evolution, 48(4), 1406-1409.
DOI Scopus12 Europe PMC5
1993 da Silva, J., Woodroffe, R., & Macdonald, D. W. (1993). Habitat, food availability and group territoriality in the European badger, Meles meles. Oecologia, 95(4), 558-564.
DOI Scopus109 WoS106 Europe PMC26
1992 da Silva, J., Bell, G., & Burt, A. (1992). Sources of variance in protein heterozygosity: the importance of the species-protein interaction.. Heredity, 68(3), 241-252.
DOI Scopus3 WoS7 Europe PMC3
1992 Da Silva, J., & Bell, G. (1992). The ecology and genetics of fitness in Chlamydomonas VI. Antagonism between natural selection and sexual selection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 249(1326), 227-233.
DOI Scopus20 WoS16
1991 Da Silva, J., Winquist, S. T., Weary, D. M., Inman, A. J., Mountjoy, D. J., Krebs, E. A., & Basolo, A. L. (1991). Male swords and female preferences. Science, 253(5026), 1426-1427.
DOI Scopus31 WoS7 Europe PMC3
1988 da Silva, J., & Terhune, J. M. (1988). Harbour seal grouping as an anti-predator strategy. Animal Behaviour, 36(5), 1309-1316.
DOI Scopus57 WoS52
1986 DASILVA, J., CAMERON, J. L., & FANKBONER, P. V. (1986). MOVEMENT AND ORIENTATION PATTERNS IN THE COMMERCIAL SEA-CUCUMBER PARASTICHOPUS-CALIFORNICUS (STIMPSON) (HOLOTHUROIDEA, ASPIDOCHRITIDA). MARINE BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSIOLOGY, 12(2), 133-147.
DOI WoS38
1985 DASILVA, J., & NEILSON, J. D. (1985). LIMITATIONS OF USING OTOLITHS RECOVERED IN SCATS TO ESTIMATE PREY CONSUMPTION IN SEALS. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES, 42(8), 1439-1446.
DOI WoS114

Year Citation
2025 da Silva, J. (2025). Life History Optimization and the Macroevolution of Mammal Body Size.
DOI

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2009 - 2013 Co-Supervisor Chloroplast DNAs Diversify Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genomes in Plants Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Dong Wang
2008 - 2013 Co-Supervisor Comprehensive Identification and Annotation of Non-Protein-Coding Transcriptomes from Vertebrates Indicates Most ncRNAs are Regulatory Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Zhipeng Qu

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