The genomics of rapid adaptation in plants

*** Fully funded 3.5 year PhD position ***

Life on Earth is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of climate change. Understanding how organisms rapidly adapt to their environment is essential in not only reducing the number of species that will go extinct, but also in safeguarding future food production. Adaptation requires genetic variation for natural selection to act on. This project will focus on the processes that result in genes present in some individuals but not others from the same species, and ultimately how this variation impacts adaptation.

As part of this project, the student will combine cutting-edge genomic techniques, comparative analyses and experimental approaches to study two contributors of intra-specific gene content variation; [1] lateral gene transfer (LGT) and [2] extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA). LGT can enable organisms to evolve beyond their innate capability by borrowing genetic information from distant relatives, and eccDNA can act as a vehicle for evolutionary change based on lifetime experience. The student will use the grass family as a model system, a key group of plants that cover 30-40% of the Earth's terrestrial surface and produce a majority of our food.

The student will receive training in a broad range of skills (including fieldwork in the UK and abroad, molecular ecology laboratory techniques, and genomics), with the exact focus of the project being flexible so that it can be tailored to the students interests.

For informal queries please contact Dr Luke Dunning ([Email Address Removed]).

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