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Aston University develops software to untangle genetic factors linked to shared characteristics among different species

Apr 14, 2023

3 min

Dr Felipe Campelo

• Has potential to help geneticists investigate vital issues such as antibacterial resistance

• Will untangle the genetic components shared due to common ancestry from the ones shared due to evolution

• The work is result of a four-year international collaboration.



Aston University has worked with international partners to develop a software package to help scientists answer key questions about genetic factors associated with shared characteristics among different species.

Called CALANGO (comparative analysis with annotation-based genomic components), it has the potential to help geneticists investigate vital issues such as antibacterial resistance and improvement of agricultural crops.

This work CALANGO: a phylogeny-aware comparative genomics tool for discovering quantitative genotype-phenotype associations across species has been published in the journal Patterns. It is the result of a four year collaboration between Aston University, the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil and other partners in Brazil, Norway and the US.

Similarities between species may arise either from shared ancestry (homology) or from shared evolutionary pressures (convergent evolution). For example, ravens, pigeons and bats can all fly, but the first two are birds whereas bats are mammals.

This means that the biology of flight in ravens and pigeons is likely to share genetic aspects due to their common ancestry. Both species are able to fly nowadays because their last common ancestor – an ancestor bird - was also a flying organism.

In contrast, bats have the ability to fly via potentially different genes than the ones in birds, since the last common ancestor of birds and mammals was not a flying animal.

Untangling the genetic components shared due to common ancestry from the ones shared due to common evolutionary pressures requires sophisticated statistical models that take common ancestry into account.

So far, this has been an obstacle for scientists who want to understand the emergence of complex traits across different species, mainly due to the lack of proper frameworks to investigate these associations.

The new software has been designed to effectively incorporate vast amounts of genomic, evolutionary and functional annotation data to explore the genetic mechanisms which underly similar characteristics between different species sharing common ancestors.

Although the statistical models used in the tool are not new, it is the first time they have been combined to extract novel biological insights from genomic data.

The technique has the potential to be applied to many different areas of research, allowing scientists to analyse massive amounts of open-source genetic data belonging to thousands of organisms in more depth.

Dr Felipe Campelo from the Department of Computer Science in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Aston University, said: “There are many exciting examples of how this tool can be applied to solve major problems facing us today. These include exploring the co-evolution of bacteria and bacteriophages and unveiling factors associated with plant size, with direct implications for both agriculture and ecology.”

“Further potential applications include supporting the investigation of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and of the yield of plant and animal species of economic importance.”

The corresponding author of the study, Dr Francisco Pereira Lobo from the Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, said: “Most genetic and phenotypic variations occur between different species, rather than within them. Our newly developed tool allows the generation of testable hypotheses about genotype-phenotype associations across multiple species that enable the prioritisation of targets for later experimental characterization.”

For more details about studying computer since at Aston University visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/eps/informatics-and-digital-engineering/computer-science


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Dr Felipe Campelo

Dr Felipe Campelo

Senior Lecturer, Computer Science

Dr Campelo works in data science. He creates solution pipelines integrating data mining, optimisation and multicriteria decision support.

OptimisationComputational IntelligenceData MiningData Science

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Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming the Guardian University of the Year in 2020. Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world. For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Helen Tunnicliffe, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7827 090240 or email: h.tunnicliffe@aston.ac.uk About Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC) brings together the very best in paediatric and women’s care in the region and is proud to have many UK and world-leading surgeons, doctors, nurses, midwives and other allied healthcare professionals on its team. Birmingham Children’s Hospital is the UK’s leading specialist paediatric centre, caring for sick children and young people between 0 and 16 years of age. Based in the heart of Birmingham city centre, the hospital is a world leader in some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting-edge research and development. It is a nationally designated specialist centre for epilepsy surgery and also boasts a paediatric major trauma centre for the West Midlands, a national liver and small bowel transplant centre and a centre of excellence for complex heart conditions, the treatment of burns, cancer and liver and kidney disease. The hospital is also home to one of the largest Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the country, comprising of a dedicated inpatient Eating Disorder Unit and Acute Assessment Unit for regional referrals of children and young people with the most serious of problems (Tier 4) and Forward Thinking Birmingham community mental health service for 0- to 25-year-olds. Birmingham Women’s Hospital is a centre of excellence, providing a range of specialist health care services to over 50,000 women and their families every year from Birmingham, the West Midlands and beyond. As well as delivering more than 8,200 babies a year, it offers a full range of gynaecological, maternity and neonatal care, as well as a comprehensive genetics service, which serves men and women. Its Fertility Centre is one of the best in the country, while the fetal medicine centre receives regional and national referrals. The hospital is also an international centre for education, research and development with a research budget of over £3 million per year. It also hosts the national miscarriage research centre – the first of its kind in the UK - in partnership with Tommy’s baby charity. For interview requests please email the Communications Team on bwc.communications@nhs.net

3 min

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2 min

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