Project: Evolutionary drivers of convergent serpentine adaptation in European Brassicaceae
Research group: Plant Ecological Genomics
Back to list
Deadline is closed
When and under which circumstances does evolution repeat itself? Evolution is driven by a combination of deterministic forces and stochasticity, whose relative importance, however, remains a matter of debate. Knowing how predictable is evolution can provide insights into predictive evolution of crops, pathogens or species under climate change.
This project will address mechanisms driving convergent genome evolution in natural environments. By leveraging fascinating natural diversity of European Brassicaceae which repeatedly adapted to exceptionally strong selective pressure, toxic soils called serpentines, the project aims at uncovering general mechanisms determining which portion of genome evolves in a predictable manner. The successful candidate will conduct extensive sampling of 13 Brassicaceae species in the Balkans, perform controlled common garden experiments and will be involved in population genetic analyses of genome-wide data. We will build on our previous research in wild Arabidopsis but the project will extend beyond this system in order to discern generality.
Strong motivation for evolutionary biology and independence is a requirement, previous experience with intense fieldwork, experiments and/or population genomic analysis is beneficial. The student will join an established international team of Ecological Genomics at the Department of Botany and the position will be funded by a highly selective Junior Star project.
Five relevant publications of the research group:
Wos G, Arc E, Hülber K, Konečná V, Knotek A, Požárová D, Bertel C, Kaplenig D, Mandáková T, Neuner G, Schönswetter P, Kranner I, Kolář F (2022): Parallel local adaptation to an alpine environment in Arabidopsis arenosa. – Journal of Ecology 110: 2448–2461 .
Konečná V, Bray S, Vlček J, Bohutínská M, Požárová D, Roy Choudhury R, Bollmann-Giolai A, Flis P, Salt DE, Parisod C, Yant L, Kolář F (2021): Parallel adaptation in autopolyploid Arabidopsis arenosa is dominated by repeated recruitment of shared alleles. – Nature Communications 12: 4979 .
Bohutínská M, Vlček J, Yair S, Laenen B, Konečná V, Fracassetti M, Slotte T, Kolář F (2021): Genomic basis of parallel adaptation varies with divergence in Arabidopsis and its relatives. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2022713118.
Wos G, Bohutínská M, Nosková M, Mandáková T, Kolář F (2021): Parallelism in gene expression between foothill and alpine ecotypes in Arabidopsis arenosa. – The Plant Journal 105: 1211-1224.
Čertner M, Sudová R, Weiser M, Suda J, Kolář F (2019): Ploidy-altered phenotype interacts with local environment and may enhance polyploid establishment in Knautia serpentinicola (Caprifoliaceae). – New Phytologist 221:1117–1127.
Deadline is closed
