Detecting and dating recent shifts in mating systems in flowering plants

• Applicant: Dr. Polina Novikova, Ph.D., since 2/2023
• Subject Area: Plant Genetics and Genomics ; Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 462181533

Evolutionary transitions of plant breeding systems is a major topic in evolutionary biology because of the far-reaching consequences of such transitions on the morphology, ecology, and evolution of plant species. However, while shifts in breeding systems have been shown to be frequent at the phylogenetic level, little is known about the precise timing and the pace at which changes in reproductive strategies evolve in plants. These are objectives that fall into the realm of population genetics. The current methodology to date transitions to predominant self-fertilization relies on analyses of genetic diversity at pseudogenized self-incompatibility genes, which are difficult to identify and generally unknown in most non-model species and only contain a limited number of polymorphic sites. The central themes of this project are the description of the consequences of changes in selfing rates at the genomic level using forward and backward population genetics modelling, the development of a statistical method to estimate changes in selfing rates through time, and the application of this new method to plant species that are thought to have experienced recent shifts in their breeding systems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Sylvain Glemin
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Stefan Laurent, Ph.D., until 1/2023