Population Genomics

开花植物大约在 1.5 亿年前进化而来，随后实现了多样化并适应了惊人的多样性的环境、栖息地和生长形式。鉴于其生态和社会重要性，了解影响植物适应的因素不仅对于基本了解进化过程具有重要意义，而且对于解决与社会相关的重大问题也很重要，例如有利于抗除草剂杂草快速传播的因素以及植物适应快速气候变化的能力。赖特教授的研究计划侧重于利用群体基因组学的最新方法来深入了解促进和限制植物适应的因素。这项工作将解决一些关键领域。首先，他将利用酸模属（酸模和酢浆草）研究导致性染色体形成和 Y 染色体退化的进化因素。最近，该群体中不同的性别已经独立进化了多次，为了解中性、适应不良和适应过程在性染色体形成和分化中的作用提供了绝佳的机会。通过检查重组率、表观遗传学、基因组结构和染色体重排的进化，并结合正选择测试，这项研究应该获得关于性染色体如何以及为何进化以及它们为何在物种间变化的重要新见解。其次，他将利用农业杂草常见的水麻作为模型，研究复杂的除草剂抗性机制的基因组基础和适应性动态，以更好地了解抗性在整个景观中传播的进化起源和性质。这项工作将为有利于快速适应的因素提供重要的新见解，并为农业杂草的管理提供重要的见解，这给农业带来了重大的经济成本。

Flowering plants evolved approximately 150 million years ago, and have subsequently diversified and adapted to an astonishing diversity of environments, habitats and growth forms. Given their ecological and societal importance, understanding the factors affecting plant adaptation are of major interest not only for the basic understanding of evolutionary processes, but also for tackling major questions of societal relevance, such as the factors favouring the rapid spread of herbicide-resistant weeds, and the ability of plants to adapt to rapid climate change. Professor Wright's research plans are focused on using the latest approaches in population genomics to gain important insights into the factors that facilitate and constrain plant adaptation. This work will tackle a number of key areas. First, using the genus Rumex (docks and sorrels), he will investigate the evolutionary factors contributing to the formation of sex chromosomes and the degeneration of Y chromosomes. Separate sexes have evolved recently and multiple times independently in this group, providing an outstanding opportunity to understand the role of neutral, maladaptive and adaptive processes in sex chromosome formation and divergence. By examining the evolution of recombination rates, epigenetics, genome structure and chromosome rearrangements integrated with tests of positive selection, this research should gain major new insights into how and why sex chromosomes evolve and why they vary across species. Second, using the agricultural weed common waterhemp as a model, he will investigate the genomic basis and adaptive dynamics of complex herbicide resistance mechanisms, to better understand the evolutionary origins and nature of spread of resistance across the landscape. This work will enable important new insights into the factors favouring rapid adaptation, as well as provide important insights into the management of agricultural weeds, which impose major economic costs on the agricultural industry.