Ecology and Evolution of Genetic Systems

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My research program explores the ecology and genetics of plant populations; i.e., how interactions in the environment, including human activity, influence genetic changes in populations over time and, conversely, how evolutionary processes and genetic diversity affect population growth and extinction. These processes are the basis for understanding and managing our influence on other species, building sustainable food sources, controlling invasive species, and conserving species at risk. My specific expertise is on***the function and evolution of reproductive processes such as mating, hybridization, and polyploidy. These characteristics are highly variable among organisms, and have direct effects on population size, growth and genetic change.******In this proposal, I focus on the causes and consequences of variation in ploidy, or the number of genome copies per nucleus. Ploidy variation is found among cells of multicellular organisms (gametes, tumours), and variation among species is widespread and associated with large shifts in their function, ecology and evolution. We will develop a more complete understanding of why polyploidy is so prevalent in some organisms, but not others, by investigating its affects on the formation of new species and adaptation to changing environments. We will examine the primary mechanism by which new polyploids are formed, i.e. through unreduced (2n) gametes. This trait may not be expressed readily in all species and may be induced only in certain environments. We will also examine the interactions between newly formed polyploids and their environments to determine what conditions enable them to establish. Novel to the study of polyploid population biology, we capitalize on newly synthesized polyploids from natural diploids in three different species, which allows us to observe the fate of polyploids in the earliest stages of evolution. We will investigate the broad hypothesis that genome multiplications can influence and possibly accelerate adaptation and species proliferation. Collectively, our proposal will provide a critical ecological &evolutionary context within which to interpret the explosion of genomic, medical and phylogenetic research on ploidy.********************