Dr Iva Popovic
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of the Environment
Researcher biography
My research takes advantage of natural biological systems and genomic methods to understand the evolutionary processes shaping genetic diversity and divergence between closely related species. I am especially interested in the genetics of adaptation, range-expansions and speciation in non-model marine invertebrates, with a strong focus on invasive species and taxa with high dispersal potential.
Journal Articles
Byrne, Ilha, Riginos, Cynthia, Uthicke, Sven, Brookes, Dean and Popovic, Iva (2024). DNA metabarcoding as a tool for characterising the spatio-temporal distribution of planktonic larvae in the phylum Echinodermata. Coral Reefs. doi: 10.1007/s00338-024-02496-7
Popovic, Iva, Bergeron, Lucie A., Bozec, Yves-Marie, Waldvogel, Ann-Marie, Howitt, Samantha M., Damjanovic, Katarina, Patel, Frances, Cabrera, Maria G., Wörheide, Gert, Uthicke, Sven and Riginos, Cynthia (2024). High germline mutation rates, but not extreme population outbreaks, influence genetic diversity in a keystone coral predator. PLOS Genetics, 20 (2) e1011129, e1011129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011129
McGaughran, Angela, Dhami, Manpreet K., Parvizi, Elahe, Vaughan, Amy L., Gleeson, Dianne M., Hodgins, Kathryn A., Rollins, Lee A., Tepolt, Carolyn K., Turner, Kathryn G., Atsawawaranunt, Kamolphat, Battlay, Paul, Congrains, Carlos, Crottini, Angelica, Dennis, Tristan P. W., Lange, Claudia, Liu, Xiaoyue P., Matheson, Paige, North, Henry L., Popovic, Iva, Rius, Marc, Santure, Anna W., Stuart, Katarina C., Tan, Hui Zhen, Wang, Cui and Wilson, Jonathan (2024). Genomic tools in biological invasions: current state and future frontiers. Genome Biology and Evolution, 16 (1) evad230, 1-16. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad230
Meziere, Zoe, Popovic, Iva, Prata, Katharine, Ryan, Isobel, Pandolfi, John and Riginos, Cynthia (2024). Exploring coral speciation: Multiple sympatric Stylophora pistillata taxa along a divergence continuum on the Great Barrier Reef. Evolutionary Applications, 17 (1) ARTN e13644, e13644. doi: 10.1111/eva.13644
Paz-García, David A., Armstrong, Eric J., Popovic, Iva, González-Pech, Raúl A. and Hellberg, Michael E. (2023). Editorial: Innovative approaches to coral reef science by early career researchers. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10 1322657, 1-5. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1322657
Ambrose, Luke, Popovic, Iva, Hereward, James, Ortiz-Barrientos, Daniel and Beebe, Nigel W. (2022). Comparisons of chemosensory gene repertoires in human and non-human feeding Anopheles mosquitoes link olfactory genes to anthropophily. iScience, 25 (7) 104521, 104521. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104521
Matias, Ambrocio Melvin A., Popovic, Iva, Thia, Joshua A., Cooke, Ira R., Torda, Gergely, Lukoschek, Vimoksalehi, Bay, Line K., Kim, Sun W. and Riginos, Cynthia (2022). Cryptic diversity and spatial genetic variation in the coral Acropora tenuis and its endosymbionts across the Great Barrier Reef. Evolutionary Applications, 16 (2), 1-18. doi: 10.1111/eva.13435
Hobbs, Jean-Paul A., Richards, Zoe T., Popovic, Iva, Lei, Chuan, Staeudle, Timo M., Montanari, Stefano R. and DiBattista, Joseph D. (2021). Hybridisation and the evolution of coral reef biodiversity. Coral Reefs, 41 (3), 535-549. doi: 10.1007/s00338-021-02193-9
Fraïsse, Christelle, Popovic, Iva, Mazoyer, Clément, Spataro, Bruno, Delmotte, Stéphane, Romiguier, Jonathan, Loire, Étienne, Simon, Alexis, Galtier, Nicolas, Duret, Laurent, Bierne, Nicolas, Vekemans, Xavier and Roux, Camille (2021). DILS: demographic inferences with linked selection by using ABC. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21 (8), 2629-2644. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13323
Popovic, Iva and Bernatchez, Louis (2021). Uncovering endemism in a lake of invasive species introgression. Molecular Ecology, 30 (4) mec.15801, 880-883. doi: 10.1111/mec.15801
Popovic, Iva, Bierne, Nicolas, Gaiti, Federico, Tanurdžić, Miloš and Riginos, Cynthia (2020). Pre‐introduction introgression contributes to parallel differentiation and contrasting hybridization outcomes between invasive and native marine mussels. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 34 (1) jeb.13746, 175-192. doi: 10.1111/jeb.13746
Popovic, Iva and Riginos, Cynthia (2020). Comparative genomics reveals divergent thermal selection in warm‐ and cold‐tolerant marine mussels. Molecular Ecology, 29 (3) mec.15339, 519-535. doi: 10.1111/mec.15339
Popovic, Iva, Matias, Ambrocio Melvin A., Bierne, Nicolas and Riginos, Cynthia (2019). Twin introductions by independent invader mussel lineages are both associated with recent admixture with a native congener in Australia. Evolutionary Applications, 13 (3) eva.12857, 515-532. doi: 10.1111/eva.12857
Popovic, Iva, Toews, David P. L., Keever, Carson C., St. Clair, C. Toby, Barbaree, Blake A., Fernández, Guillermo and Rourke, James (2019). Genotyping-by-sequencing reveals genomic homogeneity among overwintering Pacific Dunlin (Calidris alpina pacifica) aggregations along the Pacific coast of North America. The Condor, 121 (3) doi: 10.1093/condor/duz036
Patino, Susana, Keever, Carson C., Sunday, Jennifer M., Popovic, Iva, Byrne, Maria and Hart, Michael W. (2016). Sperm bindin divergence under sexual selection and concerted evolution in sea stars. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33 (8), 1988-2001. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msw081
Sunday, J. M., Popovic, I., Palen, W. J., Foreman, M. G. G. and Hart, M. W. (2014). Ocean circulation model predicts high genetic structure observed in a long-lived pelagic developer. Molecular Ecology, 23 (20), 5036-5047. doi: 10.1111/mec.12924
Hart, Michael W., Sunday, Jennifer M., Popovic, Iva, Learning, Kevin J. and Konrad, Christine M. (2014). Incipient speciation of sea star populations by adaptive gamete recognition coevolution. Evolution, 68 (5), 1294-1305. doi: 10.1111/evo.12352
Popovic, Iva, Marko, Peter B., Wares, John P. and Hart, Michael W. (2014). Selection and demographic history shape the molecular evolution of the gamete compatibility protein bindin in Pisaster sea stars. Ecology and Evolution, 4 (9), 1567-1588. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1042
Hart, Michael W., Popovic, Iva and Emlet, Richard B. (2012). Low rates of bindin codon evolution in lecithotrophic Heliocidaris sea urchins: bindin evolution in brooding sea urchins. Evolution, 66 (6), 1709-1721. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01606.x
Thesis
Popovic, Iva (2019). Evolutionary pathways to invasive success: thermal adaptation, hybridisation and parallel evolution in a marine global invader. PhD Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.650
Data Collections
Riginos, Cynthia and Popovic, Iva (2024). Scripts and data from: High germline mutation rates, but not extreme population outbreaks, influence genetic diversity in a keystone coral predator. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/ad122d0
Riginos, Cynthia, Prata, Katharine, Popovic, Iva, Byrne, Ilha, Howitt, Samantha, Ishida, Hisatake and Meziere, Zoe (2024). Cryptic species and hybridisation in corals. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/b187cda
Riginos, Cynthia, Byrne, Ilha, Popovic, Iva and Uthicke, Sven (2023). Sequences and scripts. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/3076584
Riginos, Cynthia, Matias, Ambrocio, Popovic, Iva and Thia, Joshua (2023). Scripts and analyses from: Cryptic diversity and spatial genetic variation in the coral Acropora tenuis and its endosymbionts across the Great Barrier Reef, 2023, Evolutionary Applications. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/0765ed7