BBSRC MIBTP - Ploidy driven change in meiotic recombination frequency

The world is currently facing what is arguably its most serious challenge yet, to meet the demand for a sustainable food supply for its rapidly expanding population. The “release” of genetic variation, the raw material for both natural and artificial selection, occurs during meiosis, a central process in the life cycle of all sexually reproducing organisms. This project is designed to test if genome duplication, which leads to creation of autopolyploids, will alter meiotic recombination frequency (MRF) in an Arabidopsis experimental model at a genome wide scale. The project will involve both experimental and statistical analyses. Experimentally, it will involve intensive genomic DNA sequencing experiments to collect DNA sequence variants data from two segregating populations from two diploid or autotetraploid Arabidopsis parental strains. It will also involve various statistical modelling and analysing the sequencing data to predict distribution of the genome-wide MRF. Success of the comparative genomics project may represent a breakthrough for artificial manipulation of meiotic recombination and lend modern agriculture a great opportunity for improving the efficiency of crop breeding.

The project is open to undergraduates with a first class degree in biological sciences or medicine, mathematics, physical sciences. Thorough training in wet lab techniques or statistics/programming will be provided as necessary.