Academic Degrees

• Ph.D. in Zoology, University of Illinois, Urbana (1967)
• M.S. in Zoology, University of Illinois, Urbana (1965)
• B.S. in Education (Major, Mathematics), Eastern Illinois University, Charleston (1962)

Courses Taught

• Biometry (offered for graduate credit)
• Genetics
• Population Genetics
• Hypothesis Testing

Quantitative Genetics of Growth and Asymmetry

My research program has centered around quantitative genetics of growth of various morphometric characters (chiefly bone and tooth dimensions) in mice and rats. Much of this program has involved estimation of genetic and environmental components of variance and covariance for characters that has allowed a greater understanding of problems relating to growth and allometry. Current research is focused on estimating the genetical basis for fluctuating asymmetry (FA), the variation typically found between right and left sides of bilateral characters. FA is thought to be an excellent indicator of developmental homeostasis, and increasingly has been used to compare stability levels in populations subjected to genetic or environmental stressors such as inbreeding, hybridization, parasitic infections, pollution, and sexual selection. We have successfully used quantitative trait locus (QTL) studies to describe genetical variation in FA and related asymmetries.  As an example, see figure 2 below (from Leamy et al. 1998).  

Figure 2. Relative positions of QTLs significant for the six discrete skeletal characters in mice (C1--C6) as well as directional asymmetry (DA) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in these characters.

Dioxin and Quantitative Trait Loci

Most recently, we have been involved in detecting and estimating the effects of a potent environmental toxicant, dioxin (TCDD), on the QTLs that affect tooth and various skeletal characters.  Tooth development is particularly affected by TCDD in mice and in humans, and we are using various dental characters to discover how TCDD might alter the effects of QTLs on these characters. 

Publications Since 2000  

• Keller, J.M., Huet-Hudson, Y. and L.J. Leamy.  2008.  Effects of  2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin on molar development among non-resistant inbred strains of mice: A geometric morphometric analysis.  Growth, Development & Aging 71: 13-27.

• Lightfoot, T.L., M.J. Turner, D. Pomp, S. R. Kleeberger, and L.J. Leamy.  2008. Quantitative trait loci for physical activity traits in mice. Physiological Genomics 32:401-408.

• Keller J.M., Allen D.E., Davis, C.R., and L.J. Leamy.  2007.   2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin affects fluctuating asymmetry of molar shape in mice, and an epistatic interaction of two genes for molar size.  Heredity 98: 259-267.

• Keller, J.M., Huet-Hudson Y.M., and L.J. Leamy.  2007.  Qualitative effects of dioxin on molar vary among inbred mouse strains.  Archives of Oral Biology 52: 450-454.

• Lightfoot J., M. Turner, A. Kleinfehn, A. Jedlicka, T. Oshimura, J. Marzec, W. Gladwell, L. Leamy and S. Kleeberger.  2007. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with maximum exercise endurance in mice.  Journal of Applied Physiology 103: 105-110. 

• Wolf, J.B., D. Pomp, E. J. Eisen, and L.J. Leamy.  2006.  The contribution of epistatic pleiotropy to the genetic architecture of covariation among polygenic traits in mice.  Evolution & Development 8: 468-476.

• Willmore, K.E., Leamy, L. and B. Hallgrimmson.  2006. The effects of developmental and functional interactions on mouse cranial variability through late ontogeny.  Evolution & Development 8: 550-567.

• Sokolova, I.M., Oliver, J.D. and L.J. Leamy.  2006.  An AFLP approach to identify genetic markers associated with resistance to Vibrio vulnificus and Perkinsus marinus in eastern oysters.  Journal of Shellfish Research 25: 95-100.

• Leamy, L.J., K. Elo, M.K. Nielsen, L.D. Van Vleck, and D. Pomp.  2005.  Genetic variance and covariance patterns for body weight and energy balance characters in an advanced intercross population of mice.  Genetics Selection Evolution 37: 151-173.

• Leamy, L.J., M.S. Workman, E.J. Routman, and J.M. Cheverud.  2005.  An epistatic genetic basis for fluctuating asymmetry of tooth size and shape in mice.  Heredity 94: 316-325.

• Leamy, LJ. and C.P. Klingenberg.  2005.  The genetics and evolution of fluctuating asymmetry.  In: Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36: 1-21. PDF FILE

• Sokolova, I.M., L. Leamy, M. Harrison and J.D. Oliver.  2005.  Intrapopulational variation in Vibrio vulnificus levels in Crassostrea virginica is associated with the host size but not with disease status or developmental stability.  Journal of Shellfish Research 24: 503-508.

• Wolf, J.B., L.J. Leamy, E.J. Routman and J.M. Cheverud.  2005.  Epistatic pleiotropy and the genetic architecture of covariation within early- and late-developing skull trait complexes in mice.  Genetics 171: 683-694.

• Klingenberg, C.P., L.J. Leamy and J.M. Cheverud.  2004.  Integration and modularity of quantitative trait locus effects on geometric shape in the mouse mandible.  Genetics 166: 1909-1921. 

• Schneider, S.S., L.J. Leamy, L.A. Lewis, and G. DeGrandi-Hoffman.  2003.  The influence of hybridization between African and European honeybees, Apis mellifera, on asymmetries in wing size and shape.  Evolution 57: 2350-2364.

• Leamy, L.J.  2003.  Dominance, epistasis, and fluctuating asymmetry.  In Developmental Instability: Causes and Consequences. Edited by M. Polak.  Oxford University Press, New York.  Pp. 142-156.

• Davis, C.R., D.E. Allen, and L. J. Leamy.  2002.  2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin: its effect on genes for mandible traits in mice.  Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 12: 43-53. PDF FILE

• Leamy, L.J., D. Pomp, E.J. Eisen, and J.M. Cheverud.  2002.  Pleiotropy of quantitative trait loci for organ weights and limb bone lengths in mice.  Physiological Genomics 10: 21-29. PDF FILE

• Workman, M.S., L.J. Leamy, E.J. Routman, and J. M. Cheverud.  2002.  Analysis of QTL effects on the size and shape of mandibular molars in mice.  Genetics 160: 1573-1586.  PDF FILE

• Leamy, L.J., E. J. Routman, and J.M. Cheverud.  2002.  An epistatic genetic basis for fluctuating asymmetry of mandible size in mice.  Evolution 56: 642-653.  PDF FILE

• Leamy, L.J., S. Meagher, S. Taylor, L. Carroll, and W.K. Potts.  2001.  Size and fluctuating asymmetry of morphometric characters in mice: their associations with inbreeding and t-haplotype.  Evolution 55: 2333-2341. PDF FILE

• Klingenberg, C.P., and L.J. Leamy.  2001.  Quantitative genetics of geometric shape in the mouse mandible.  Evolution 55: 2342-2352.  PDF FILE

• Allen, D. and L.J. Leamy.  2001.  Effects of 2,3,4,8-tetrachloro-p-dioxin on directional and fluctuating asymmetry of mandible characters in mice.  Ecotoxicology 10: 167-176.  

• Klingenberg, C.P., L.J. Leamy, E.J. Routman, and J.M. Cheverud.  2001. Genetic architecture of mandible shape in mice: effects of quantitative trait loci analyzed by geometric morphometrics.  Genetics 157: 785-802.  PDF FILE

• Leamy, L.J., D. Pomp, E.J. Eisen, and J.M. Cheverud.  2000.  Quantitative trait loci for directional but not fluctuating asymmetry of mandible characters in mice.  Genetical Research 76: 27-40.  PDF FILE

• Kiebzak, G.M., Leamy, L.J., Pierson, L.M., Nord, R.H., and Z.Y. Zhang.  2000.  Measurement precision of body composition variables using the Lunar DPX-L densitometer.  Journal of Clinical Densitometry 3: 35-41.

        ALL PUBLICATIONS

Past Graduate Students

·         2001.  Carisa R. Davis.  M.S. Thesis: "Quantitative trait loci for shape and asymmetry of mandible characters in mice developmentally exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.  (Ph.D. student, University of South Florida, Tampa).

·         2000.  Michael S. Workman.  M.S. Thesis: "Analysis of QTL effects on the size and shape of mandibular molars in mice".  (Biostatistician). 

·         2000.  Desiree Allen.  M.S. Thesis: "2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin affects size and shape, but not asymmetry, of mandibles in mice."  (Completed Ph.D., Indiana University). 

·         1987. Linda Urkevich. M.S. Thesis: "Fluctuating asymmetry of morphometric characters in a randombred population of house mice: the effects of age, sex, and phenotypical extremeness." (Completed Ph.D., University of California, Irvine).

·         1978. Stephen G. Self. M.S. Thesis: "Heritability of quasi-continuous skeletal traits in a randombred population of house mice." (Completed Ph.D., University of Washington).

·         1977. Benjamin Charles Deeley III. M.S. Thesis: "Effects of alleles at the agouti locus on behavioral traits in house mice."

·         1976. Stephen Arthur Fredette. M.S. Thesis: "Partitioning of behavior into prenatal and postnatal maternal components in the house mouse." (Completed D.D.S., UCLA).

·         1974. Schelly Rae Schwam. M.S. Thesis: "The effects of alleles at the agouti locus on osteometric traits in the house mouse."

·         1971. Russel Alan Riddle. M.S. Thesis: "Selection on odontometric and osteometric characters in natural populations of Peromyscus californicus insignis". (Completed Ph.D., Oregon State University).

Present Graduate Students

·        2002. James Keller

·        2005 Johnny Huang

·        2005 Chelsea Landon