The role of plasticity in adaptation to climate change
I am fascinated by the ability of plants to respond to their environment and to adapt to stressful environments. In this project, I am investigating the role of phenotypic plasticity in adpatation to climate change by incorporating within and between population variation in plasticity, selection gradients for plasticity, and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis to start to uncover the genetic architecture of plasticity for multiple traits. This project is composed of chamber common gardens where I grow native genotypes and recombinant inbred lines of A. thaliana in simulated current and future environments while measuring a suite of traits related to phenology, drought response, and fitness. I aim to answer three main questions:
1. Is there population differentiation for plasticity?
2. Do more plastic genotypes have higher fitness in the future environment? And are these genotypes native lines or recombinant inbred lines?
3. Are QTL underlying drought response traits and fitness similar in the current and future environments? Can we identify QTL for plasticity?
The results from this project will be applicable in understanding the effect of assisted migration and improving crops for climate resiliency.
Check out the work I've presented thus far on this project!
Evolution 2022 Poster - pilot study results
Evolution 2023 Poster - first results from RILs