Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C507037/1
Molecular genetic analysis of a barrier to gene flow between two ecologically divergent Populus species.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor C Lexer, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Jodrell Laboratory
- Grant held at:
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Jodrell Laboratory
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Environmental Genomics
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Abstract:
- Barriers to gene flow play a central role in many topics of evolutionary genetics. Species barriers between ecologically divergent forest trees are particularly interesting, because the genes conferring ecological character differences are expected to segregate in interspecific hybrids. Hence, hybrid populations offer a powerful tool for the genetic analysis of adaptively important traits - suites of characters that are especially important in the face of global climate change. Perhaps the biggest impediment to unlocking the potential of interspecific populations lies in the difficulty of generating multi-generation crosses in long-lived forest trees. Natural hybrid zones offer an attractive alternative: the increased genetic variability and admixture linkage disequilibrium (admixture LD) present in hybrid populations can be utilized for genetic association studies. This approach has been remarkably successful for the study of disease-related genes in admixed human populations. The same methodology is applicable to long-lived forest trees, but evaluating its potential requires a study system with a favourable setting, i.e., extensive interspecific gene flow, pronounced interspecific character differences, and good genomic resources. Members of the genus Populus certainly lend themselves to this purpose. Here, we propose to identify and characterize recombinant hybrid genotypes in natural hybrid zones between Populus alba and Populus tremula in Europe, to detect genomic regions that introgress more or less frequently than expected under neutrality, and to study associations between these regions and phenotypic characters. The proposed work will yield important insights into the nature of a barrier to gene flow between two ecologically divergent Populus species, and into the potential of admixture LD mapping as a tool for the genetic analysis of adaptively important traits in trees.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C507037/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- New Investigators Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- New Investigators
This grant award has a total value of £39,751
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| £4,308 | £26,046 | £9,398 |
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