Genomics of rapid Evolution in Novel Environments network

Today, on Charles Darwin’s 208th birthday, we announce the launch of GrENE-net

Today, on Charles Darwin’s 208th birthday, we announce the launch of GrENE-net. A coordinated distributed global evolution experiment to study the Genomics of rapid Evolution in Novel Environments, that will give clues about plant adaptation in a rapidly changing world.

In brief, the idea is to sow seed mixtures of ca. 200 Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes (previously sequenced in the 1001 genomes project and phenotypically characterized) in a large number of sites around the globe, starting in autumn 2017. Participants will collect plant material during subsequent flowering seasons for pool sequencing to assess allele frequency changes genome-wide. This will be used to investigate rapid evolution by natural selection across space. Combining this data with previous knowledge of phenotypes as well as with records of environmental variables will help to understand natural selection in an ecological context.

You can also find more detailed information, including the latest version of the experimental protocol, on our project website on grene-net.org.