Anjali Gupta

Anjali Gupta
  • Doctoral Candidate

Contact Info

Biography —

Faculty Mentor: Robert Unckless
Research Interests: Evolutionary genetics, Genetic conflict, Meiotic drive, Selfish genetic elements
Hometown: Rewari, Haryana (India)

Education —

B.S. in Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Mohali, 2022, Mohali, India
M.S. in Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Mohali, 2022, Mohali, India

Selected Publications —

  • Brady, M.J., Gupta, A., Gent, J.I., Swentowsky, K.W., Unckless, R.L. and Dawe, R.K., 2025. Conflicting kinesin-14s in a single chromosomal drive haplotype. Genetics, p.iyaf091. 
  • Gupta, A., Svensson, E.I., Frietsch, H. and Tsuboi, M., 2025. Persistence of the ecological niche in pond damselflies underlies a stable adaptive zone despite varying selection. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, p.voaf040. 
  • Gupta, A. and Unckless, R.L., 2024. Autosomal suppression of sex-ratio meiotic drive influences the dynamics of X and Y chromosome coevolution. Journal of Heredity, 115(6), pp.660-671. 
  • Mullinax, S.R., Darby, A.M., Gupta, A., Chan, P., Smith, B.R. and Unckless, R.L., 2024. A suite of selective pressures supports the maintenance of alleles of a Drosophila immune peptide. eLife, 12. 
  • Gupta, A. and Unckless, R.L., 2024. On pathogenicity with varying microbial virulence and host resistance. bioRxiv, pp.2024-10.
  • Smith, B. R., Patch, K. B., Gupta, A., Knoles, E. M., & Unckless, R. L. (2023). The genetic basis of variation in immune defense against Lysinibacillus fusiformis infection in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS pathogens, 19(8), e1010934
  • Mullinax, S. R., Darby, A. M., Gupta, A., Chan, P., Smith, B., & Unckless, R. (2023). A suite of selective pressures supports the maintenance of alleles of a Drosophila immune peptide. bioRxiv, 2023-08. In review
  • Gupta, A., Svensson, E.I., Frietsch, H. and Tsuboi, M., 2022. Convergence and divergence of the adaptive landscape in two ecologically similar and sympatric damselfly species. bioRxiv. In review.
  • Gupta, A., 2022. Natural and sexual selection on morphology and chemical cues in insects (Masters dissertation, IISER Mohali).
     

Selected Presentations —

Gupta, A., Chan, V, Eads, T, Unckless, R.L. X chromosome meiotic drive and polymorphic Y chromosome-linked resistance in Drosophila affinis. Dros26 conference, Genetics Society of America (GSA). Chicago, IL. March 2026. Poster presentation. 

Gupta, A., Veller, C., Unckless, R.L. To what extent do sex-ratio meiotic drivers interfere with each other? Evolution 2025 conference, Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE). Athens, GA. June 2025. Oral presentation. 

Gupta, A. Meiotic drive in Drosophila affinis. KU Center for Genomics symposium, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. May 2025. UpGoer5 Challenge. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Evolutionary history of two X chromosome meiotic drivers in Drosophila affinis. KU Center for Genomics symposium, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. May 2025. Oral presentation. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Evolutionary history of two X chromosome meiotic drivers in Drosophila affinis. Dros25 conference, Genetics Society of America (GSA). San Diego, CA. March 2025. Oral presentation. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Evolution of two distinct meiotic drive X chromosomes in D. affinis. K-INBRE symposium, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS. January 2025. Poster presentation. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. X chromosome meiotic drive in Drosophila affinis. Internal conflicts and organismal adaptation STN workshop, European Society of Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands. October 2024. Oral presentation. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Evolution of two meiotic driving X chromosomes in Drosophila affinis. Evolution 2024 conference, Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE). Montreal, Canada. July 2024. Oral presentation. 

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Evolution of two distinct meiotic drive X chromosomes in D. affinis. KU Center for Genomics symposium, University of Kansas. Lawrence, KS. May 2024.

Gupta, A., Unckless, R.L. Does autosomal suppression of meiotic drive prevent cycling of sex chromosomes? Evolution 2023. Albuquerque, NM. June 2023. 

Gupta, A., Svensson, E.I., Frietsch, H. and Tsuboi, M., 2022. Natural and sexual selection on the morphology Ischnura elegans and Enallagma cyathigerum. IISER, Mohali, April 2022. Poster presentation.


Gupta, A., Prasad, N.G.. Evolution of metabolic pathways in response to selection for larval crowding in populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Indian Society of Evolutionary Biologists (ISEB) conference. Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore. October 2019. Poster presentation.

Awards & Honors —

  • Graduate Student Excellence Award, 2026, Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) 
  • Doctoral Student Research Fund Award (1,500 USD), 2025, University of Kansas 
  • UpGoer5 Challenge Winner, 2025, KU Center for Genomics Symposium 
  • John M. Deal Scholarship (10,413 USD), 2025, University of Kansas 
  • Rosemary Grant Advanced Award: Graduate Research Excellence Grant (3,500 USD), 2025, Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) 
  • Byron Alexander Memorial Award (Entomology Endowment Travel Award), (1,850 USD), 2025, University of Kansas 
  • EEB Entomology Endowment Travel Award, (1,800 USD), 2024, University of Kansas 
  • The Ida H. Hyde Research Scholarship (3,000 USD), 2024, University of Kansas 
  • John M. Deal Scholarship (7,627 USD), 2024, University of Kansas 
  • R.C. Lewontin Early Award. Society for the Study of Evolution. $2500. 2023.
  • Academic Excellence Award, 2020, Indian Institute of Science Education & Research, Mohali Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) Research Fellowship (464,000 INR), 2017 - 2022, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
  • EEB Entomology Endowment Summer Support Fellowship. The University of Kansas. $3500. 05/23-07/23.