A group of young women in lab coats on McKeldin Mall

Karen Carleton headshot
Contact Info
Office: 301.405.6929
Lab: 301.405.8121
Fax: 301.314.9358
Office Address: 2130 Bioscience Research Bldg
Carleton Lab Website
Karen Carleton
Professor

Teaching

  • BSCI 207: Principles of Biology III - Organismal Biology
  • BSCI 338C: Genomics of Sensory Systems
  • BSCI 338V: Biology of Vision
  • BSCI 338W: Animal Communication
  • PHYS 131: Fundamentals of Physics for Biologists

Graduate Program Affiliations

  • BISI - Physiological Systems (PSYS)
  • BISI - Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)
  • BISI - Molecular & Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Research Interests 

Evolution of visual systems and visual communication: genetics of visual system tuning; physical modeling of color signals and visual discrimination. African cichlid fishes serve as a model to explore how natural and sexual selection drive communication. Evolution of rod and cone phototransduction: tuning photoreceptor responsivity through evolution of protein structure and gene expression. A comparative genomic approach utilizing a diversity of vertebrates including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and agnathans.

All Publications

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Latest Publications via PubMed

Madison FN,Conte MA,Brown JA,Carleton KL,Dooling RJ
Whole genome sequencing identifies genetic candidates for high-frequency hearing loss in canaries (serinus canaria).
J Acoust Soc Am. 2025 Apr 1;157(4):2330-2335. doi: 10.1121/10.0036218. Epub
Stieb SM,Cortesi F,Jardim de Queiroz L,Carleton KL,Seehausen O,Marshall NJ
Long-wavelength-sensitive (lws) opsin gene expression, foraging and visual communication in coral reef fishes.
Mol Ecol. 2023 Apr;32(7):1656-1672. doi: 10.1111/mec.16831. Epub 2023 Jan 18
White ND,Batz ZA,Braun EL,Braun MJ,Carleton KL,Kimball RT,Swaroop A
A novel exome probe set captures phototransduction genes across birds (Aves) enabling efficient analysis of vision evolution.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2022 Feb;22(2):587-601. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13496. Epub 2021 Oct 15
Zheng S,Shao F,Tao W,Liu Z,Long J,Wang X,Zhang S,Zhao Q,Carleton KL,Kocher TD,Jin L,Wang Z,Peng Z,Wang D,Zhang Y
Chromosome-level assembly of southern catfish (silurus meridionalis) provides insights into visual adaptation to nocturnal and benthic lifestyles.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2021 Jul;21(5):1575-1592. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13338. Epub 2021 May 12
Carleton KL,Conte MA,Malinsky M,Nandamuri SP,Sandkam BA,Meier JI,Mwaiko S,Seehausen O,Kocher TD
Movement of transposable elements contributes to cichlid diversity.
Mol Ecol. 2020 Dec;29(24):4956-4969. doi: 10.1111/mec.15685. Epub 2020 Nov 13
Carleton KL,Yourick MR
Axes of visual adaptation in the ecologically diverse family Cichlidae.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Oct;106:43-52. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.04.015. Epub 2020 May 19
Sandkam BA,Campello L,O'Brien C,Nandamuri SP,Gammerdinger WJ,Conte MA,Swaroop A,Carleton KL
Tbx2a Modulates Switching of RH2 and LWS Opsin Gene Expression.
Mol Biol Evol. 2020 Jul 1;37(7):2002-2014. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa062. Epub
Escobar-Camacho D,Carleton KL,Narain DW,Pierotti MER
Visual pigment evolution in Characiformes: The dynamic interplay of teleost whole-genome duplication, surviving opsins and spectral tuning.
Mol Ecol. 2020 Jun;29(12):2234-2253. doi: 10.1111/mec.15474. Epub 2020 Jun 8
Carleton KL,Escobar-Camacho D,Stieb SM,Cortesi F,Marshall NJ
Seeing the rainbow: mechanisms underlying spectral sensitivity in teleost fishes.
J Exp Biol. 2020 Apr 23;223(Pt 8):. doi: 10.1242/jeb.193334. Epub 2020 Apr 23
Carleton KL,Escobar-Camacho D,Kocher TD
Visual adaptation could aid sympatric speciation in a deep crater lake.
Mol Ecol. 2019 Dec;28(23):5007-5009. doi: 10.1111/mec.15278. Epub 2019 Nov 20
Stieb SM,de Busserolles F,Carleton KL,Cortesi F,Chung WS,Dalton BE,Hammond LA,Marshall NJ
A detailed investigation of the visual system and visual ecology of the Barrier Reef anemonefish, Amphiprion akindynos.
Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 11;9(1):16459. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-52297-0. Epub 2019 Nov 11
Yourick MR,Sandkam BA,Gammerdinger WJ,Escobar-Camacho D,Nandamuri SP,Clark FE,Joyce B,Conte MA,Kocher TD,Carleton KL
Diurnal variation in opsin expression and common housekeeping genes necessitates comprehensive normalization methods for quantitative real-time PCR analyses.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2019 Nov;19(6):1447-1460. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13062. Epub 2019 Aug 7
Escobar-Camacho D,Taylor MA,Cheney KL,Green NF,Marshall NJ,Carleton KL
Color discrimination thresholds in a cichlid fish: Metriaclima benetos.
J Exp Biol. 2019 Sep 3;222(Pt 17):. doi: 10.1242/jeb.201160. Epub 2019 Sep 3
Luehrmann M,Carleton KL,Cortesi F,Cheney KL,Marshall NJ
Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) show visual system adaptations typical of nocturnally and diurnally active fish.
Mol Ecol. 2019 Jun;28(12):3025-3041. doi: 10.1111/mec.15102. Epub 2019 Jun 11
Musilova Z,Cortesi F,Matschiner M,Davies WIL,Patel JS,Stieb SM,de Busserolles F,Malmstrøm M,Tørresen OK,Brown CJ,Mountford JK,Hanel R,Stenkamp DL,Jakobsen KS,Carleton KL,Jentoft S,Marshall J,Salzburger W
Vision using multiple distinct rod opsins in deep-sea fishes.
Science. 2019 May 10;364(6440):588-592. doi: 10.1126/science.aav4632. Epub
Conte MA,Joshi R,Moore EC,Nandamuri SP,Gammerdinger WJ,Roberts RB,Carleton KL,Lien S,Kocher TD
Chromosome-scale assemblies reveal the structural evolution of African cichlid genomes.
Gigascience. 2019 Apr 1;8(4):. doi: 10.1093/gigascience/giz030. Epub
Escobar-Camacho D,Pierotti MER,Ferenc V,Sharpe DMT,Ramos E,Martins C,Carleton KL
Variable vision in variable environments: the visual system of an invasive cichlid (Cichla monoculus) in Lake Gatun, Panama.
J Exp Biol. 2019 Mar 18;222(Pt 6):. doi: 10.1242/jeb.188300. Epub 2019 Mar 18
Nandamuri SP,Conte MA,Carleton KL
Multiple trans QTL and one cis-regulatory deletion are associated with the differential expression of cone opsins in African cichlids.
BMC Genomics. 2018 Dec 18;19(1):945. doi: 10.1186/s12864-018-5328-z. Epub 2018 Dec 18
Luehrmann M,Stieb SM,Carleton KL,Pietzker A,Cheney KL,Marshall NJ
Short-term colour vision plasticity on the reef: changes in opsin expression under varying light conditions differ between ecologically distinct fish species.
J Exp Biol. 2018 Nov 16;221(Pt 22):. pii: jeb175281. doi: 10.1242/jeb.175281. Epub 2018 Nov 16