Dissertation Research: Adaptive Evolution of Seed Oil Composition in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Experimental evidence supports the idea that seed oil composition, the relative proportions of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in seed oils, has adapted to temperature such that the melting point of the seed oil is lower in plants that live in colder climates. The aim of this research is to determine the genetic basis of adaptive differences in seed oil composition and tie them to specific ecological selective pressures. Using genetic and molecular techniques, the individual genes underlying the variation in this complex trait will be identified and the adaptive value of different alleles tested. This project will be one of the first to identify the genetic variation responsible for the evolution of a complex trait. Plant oils are one of the most energy rich forms of organic carbon; they are widely utilized for human nutrition, industrial products, and biofuels. Understanding how oil composition has evolved in response to temperature may help us engineer oil composition for industrial purposes such as improving cold temperature performance of biodiesels and reducing unpalatable fatty acids in food products. Evolutionary knowledge of seed oil composition led to the discovery of low saturated fat wild sunflowers, which were used to produce commercially available low saturated fat sunflower lines. This project will provide undergraduates with research opportunities in evolutionary genetics.