The Evolution of Plant Reproductive Diversity

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Plant reproduction is fundamental to life on earth. Determining the mechanisms governing the origin of reproductive diversity is a central problem in evolutionary biology. Studies of plant reproduction provide some of the best examples of the evolution of adaptation by natural selection. Moreover, research on plant reproduction is critical for advances in plant breeding and biotechnology, and for applied fields such as invasion biology. The objective of this research program is to understand the mechanisms driving the evolution of angiosperm reproductive diversity by determining how and why evolutionary changes in reproductive and genetic systems occur. The research exploits the striking intra- and inter-specific variation that is a feature of many herbaceous plants to test theoretical models using the tools of ecological and evolutionary genetics. The objectives will be achieved using a variety of plant groups suitable for experimental studies, and that are appropriate for addressing specific questions. The research conducted by a team of students and post-doctoral fellows (PDFs) will use diverse approaches including field studies of natural and experimental populations, glasshouse experiments, laboratory studies of biomechanics, comparative methods, genetic crosses and selection experiments, and population genomic analysis of DNA sequences.