Population Genomics

开花植物大约在1.5亿年前进化，后来多样化并适应了惊人的环境、生境和生长形式的多样性。鉴于它们的生态和社会重要性，了解影响植物适应的因素不仅对于基本了解进化过程，而且对于解决重大的社会相关问题，如有利于抗除草剂杂草迅速传播的因素，以及植物适应快速气候变化的能力，都具有重大意义。赖特教授的研究计划集中于使用种群基因组学的最新方法，以获得对促进和限制植物适应的因素的重要见解。这项工作将解决一些关键领域。首先，他将利用酸模(酸模和酸模)，研究促成性染色体形成和Y染色体退化的进化因素。最近，不同的性别在这个群体中多次独立进化，这为理解中性、不适应和适应过程在性染色体形成和分化中的作用提供了一个极好的机会。通过研究重组率、表观遗传学、基因组结构和染色体重排的进化，结合正向选择测试，这项研究应该会对性染色体如何以及为什么进化以及为什么它们在不同物种之间存在差异获得重大的新见解。其次，他将以农用杂草常见的水麻为模型，研究复杂除草剂抗性机制的基因组基础和适应动态，以更好地了解抗性在整个景观中的进化起源和传播性质。这项工作将使人们能够对有利于快速适应的因素有重要的新见解，并对农业杂草的管理提供重要见解，这些杂草给农业工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.