Evolutionary diversification of complex floral signals

Project: Research

Project Details

Description

One major challenge in biology is to understand how microevolutionary processes generate macroevolutionary patterns. My research group studies plants and plant-feeding insects, as phylogenetic studies indicate that speciation in these groups is driven by divergent specialization in traits of importance for the species interaction. Here, we focus on the evolution of floral scent, a complex trait of crucial importance for plant-insect interactions. After several years of eco-evolutionary studies in a plant model system, Arabis alpina, we are ready to apply a combination of field studies, crossing experiments, chemical ecology and genomics to investigate how floral scent is diversified in natural populations. In particular, we test how a striking floral scent variation among populations relates to geographic variation in their interaction with insects. The available A. alpina reference genome allows us to couple ecological surveys, field transplant experiments and genomic studies aimed at (i) reconstructing the phylogeographic background to floral scent variation, (ii) identifying candidate genes for scent compounds through re-sequencing of F2-crosses and gene expression analyses, and (iii) identifying genomic signals of selection on these genes across populations. Collectively, these studies address several unresolved questions about how complex traits like floral scent are molded and diversified through selection from each local ecological network of interacting insects.
StatusNot started

Funding

  • Carl Tryggers Stiftelse för Vetenskaplig Forskning