Evolution & Adaptation

Phenotype-driven approaches for the identification of natural variants with potential roles in adaptation continue to be an important part of our research.

Much of our work focuses on the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which can be found in very different habitats, and the species accordingly varies in many morphological, physiological and life history traits. Several traits are likely to be important for local adaptation, such as the onset of flowering. This is less obvious for others, but their investigation can nevertheless lead to interesting biology.

In addition to genotype x environment (GxE) interactions, we are interested in genotype x gene (GxG) interactions, that is, how the expression of mutant phenotypes is modulated by genetic background. The experimental strategy employs CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to knock out the same genes in different natural accessions. These efforts are an important step toward exploiting naturally occurring genetic variation for a systems-level understanding of biological processes.

A particularly fascinating case of evolution that can be observed in real time is that of herbicide resistance in agricultural weeds. Although many of the responsible genes are well known, there are still many questions regarding the frequency with which herbicide resistance arises, how it spreads, and how herbicide resistance mutations interact with other variants that ensure the success of weeds in agricultural environments.

Natural variation in fitness trade offs

Systematic analysis of
gene-by-genotype (GxG) interactions

Evolution of
herbicide resistance

People

Adrian Contreras

Doctoral Researcher

Epigenomics (sRNA/DNA methylation). Population genomics of transposable elements

Anette Habring

Research Technician

Andrea Movilli

Doctoral Researcher

Epigenetics. Transposable Elements. Long-read sequencing

Catarina Lino

Intern

Detlef Weigel

Director

I started out as a developmental biologist, but over the past two decades years, my lab has come to focus more and more on questions of evolution. We investigate these both from a genomic perspective and starting from phenotypes, primarily, but not exclusively in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Fernando Rabanal

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ribosome heterogeneity. Evolution of regulation of ribosomal RNA genes. Population genomics of herbicide resistance

Frank Weiss

Technical Service

Ribosome heterogeneity. Evolution of regulation of ribosomal RNA genes. Population genomics of herbicide resistance

Katrin Fritschi

Research Technician

DNA sequencing and associated challenges

Li He

Postdoctoral Researcher

Monika Demar

Research Technician

Patience Chatukuta

Postdoctoral Researcher

Plant protoplast transformation. Plant regeneration. Plant genome editing

Shanshan Wang

Postdoctoral Researcher

Plant immunity. Single cell sequencing

Ulrich Lutz

Postdoctoral Researcher

GxG interactions. Flowering time variation. Herbicide resistance.

Wei Yuan

Postdoctoral Researcher

RNA-seq. Ecological Genomics. Complex trait.

Collaboration Partners

Julia Kreiner

University of British Columbia, Canada

Charles Fenster

University of Maryland, USA

Patrick Tranel

University of Illinois, USA

Selected References

Exposito-Alonso, M. A., 500 Genomes Field Experiment Team, Burbano, H. A., Bossdorf, O., Nielsen, R., and Weigel, D. (2019) Natural selection on the Arabidopsis thaliana genome in present and future climates. Nature 573, 126-129.

Kreiner, J., Latorre, S. M., Burbano, H. A., Stinchcombe, J. R., Otto, S. P., Weigel, D., and Wright, S. I. (2022) Rapid weed adaptation and range expansion in response to agriculture over the last two centuries. Science, published online 9 December 2022.

Vasseur, F., Fouqueau, L., de Vienne, D., Nidelet, T., Violle, C., and Weigel, D. (2019) Non-linear phenotypic variation uncovers the emergence of heterosis in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Biol. 17, e3000214.

Srikant, T., Yuan, W., Berendzen, K. W., Contreras Garrido, A., Drost, H.-G., Schwab, R., and Weigel, D. (2023) Canalization of genome-wide transcriptional activity in Arabidopsis thaliana accessions by MET1-dependent CG methylation. Genome Biol. In press.