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Håkan Wittzell
As curator and database manager at the Botanical Museum, I am
responsible for the digitising of the collections, and for building up a
separate herbarium of type specimens. Moreover, I am curator of the
Preiss herbarium from Western Australia.
Since 2005, I am also
coordinator of the project Sweden’s Virtual Herbarium, which is a
co-operation between Sweden’s six major herbaria. The project is
supported by the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative with 8.6 million SEK for
the period 2011-2013.
I started out as an animal ecologist, and
presented my Ph.D. thesis on natural and sexual selection in the
ring-necked pheasant in 1991. Theories on sexual selection based on
parasite resistance sparked my interest in the highly variable Major
histocompatibility complex (Mhc), which plays an important role in the
immune system. Two years as a postdoc in Paris allowed me to
characterise the Mhc in pheasants, and to study the association between
the Mhc genotype of male pheasants and male characters used by female
pheasants for selecting a mate.
The postdoc period marked a shift
in my interests towards molecular ecology, in particular in conjunction
with birds, reptiles, and even salmon. I have published about 40 papers
spanning animal ecology, molecular ecology, immunogenetics, molecular
evolution, taxonomy and phylogenetics. In 1998, I was appointed
associate professor (docent) at Lund University.
I have always
been a keen botanist, and started the latest inventory of the flora of
Skåne, which is my home province by birth and unchecked habit.
Botanically, I am a specialist in the intricate and challenging genus
Taraxacum (dandelions).
Selected publications
Endale Ahanda M-L, Ruby T, Wittzell H, Bed’Hom B, Chaussé A-M, Morin V,
Oudin A, Chevalier C, Young JR, Zoorob R. 2009. Non-coding RNAs
revealed during identification of genes involved in chicken immune
responses. Immunogenetics 61: 55-70.
Hansson MC, Wittzell H,
Persson K, von Schantz T. 2003. Characterization of two distinct aryl
hydrocarbon receptor (AhR2) genes in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
and evidence for multiple AhR2 gene lineages in salmonid fish. Gene
303: 197-206.
Abraham D, Ryrholm N, Wittzell H, Holloway JD,
Scoble MJ, Löfstedt C. 2001. Molecular phylogeny of the
subfamilies in Geometridae (Geometroidea: Lepidoptera). Mol Phylogen
Evol 20: 65-77.
Wittzell H. 1999. Chloroplast DNA variation
and reticulate evolution in sexual and apomictic sections of dandelions.
Mol Ecol 8: 2023-2035.
Wittzell H, Bernot A, Auffray C, Zoorob R.
1999. Concerted evolution of two Mhc class II B loci in pheasants and
domestic chickens. Mol Biol Evol 16: 479-490.
Page Manager: Sigvard Svensson Webmaster: Michael
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Publisher: Lunds universitets biologiska museer
Last modified 8 Nov 2011
Håkan Wittzell
Associate Professor
Phone:
+46462220267
E-mail:
Hakan.Wittzell@biol.lu.se