Droevendaalsesteeg 10
6708 PB Wageningen
The Netherlands
Mario Blanco-Sánchez
Netwerk
Over
My research is focused on the importance of neutral and adaptive evolutionary processes in plant responses to climate change
Biografie
I did my PhD in Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC, Madrid). My thesis was mainly focused on understanding how adaptive evolution and phenotypic plasticity interact to shape the evolutionary responses of gypsophiles (plants restricted to gypsum soils) to climate change. During my postdoc at NIOO in Koen Verhoeven's group, we will assess the adaptive value of plasticity in gene expression to temperature using the common duckweed (Lemna minor) as a model system. The project will combine common garden experiments, genomic and transcriptomic analyses, selection analyses and experimental evolution assays to evaluate the role of gene expression plasticity to cope with the increment of temperature variation and unpredictability of climate change.
Onderzoeksgroepen
Projecten & samenwerkingen
Projecten
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Plant gene expression plasticity and adaptation to climate change
One effect of climate change is that plants are exposed to increasing local variation in weather conditions, including more episodes of heat stress. Should plants evolve to perform better at high temperatures, or should they become more plastic and cope with a broader range of temperatures? This project compares a large panel of duckweed genotypes for genetic differences in thermal plasticity in gene expression. Because duckweeds are the fastest growing plants in the world, we can use experimental evolution approaches to test if more plastic genotypes have a selective advantage when temperature environments become more variable.