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Brachypodium distachyon (Poaceae) fresh (above) and ripe spikes(below).
Trichoplusia ni (Noctuidae) feeding on a young seedling of Boechera stricta in a cone container experiment in the greenhouse. Picture: TMO.
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Current project
Natural variation for drought tolerance in the grass Brachypodium distachyon, a new model species for ecological genomics. By using an ecological genomic approach we investigate the evolutionary forces which shape natural genetic variation in this ecologically important trait across a naturally occurring water-stress gradient in the Iberian Peninsula. Also, we investigate the role of polyploidization as an adaptive response to aridity and drought. This project is funded by the European Commission through a Marie Curie Action (IOF).
Many advances in plant sciences have arisen from research on the mustard, Arabidopsis thaliana. However, relevance of this system for cereal crops of agricultural importance has been unclear, especially for yield and plant responses to diverse abiotic and biotic stresses. Especially challenging are agricultural species with complex genomes, or with low genome similarity to plant models. There is a real need for finding new plant models closer to plants with high socioeconomic interest that provide new answers to the present-day environmental challenges around the planet. For temperate grasses, a new plant model, Brachypodium distachyon, has recently emerged to address key long-term questions in plant functional genomics and ecology, such as, what is the origin of the variation of plant tolerance to drought or tolerance to pests. In addition, I consider approaches to screening natural variation, with the goal of identifying genomic regions underlying natural polymorphism in drought tolerance traits in this species using an eco-genomic perspective. Finally, I'm interested on how this information may be transferred and implemented in related grasses with socioeconomic interest.
Past projects
Genetic and geographical variation in glucosinolate defensive compounds in natural populations of Boechera species (Brassicaceae). Combining field data and greenhouse experiments, we investigate the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that promote and maintain the genetic variation in plant defences (resistance and tolerance traits) to insect herbivores. Click here and publication list for more details.
Ecology and evolution of seed dispersal in Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae). Geographical variation in animal-plant interactions. During my Thesis I investigated the ant-seed dispersal mutualism in this species across a geographical gradient in Spain. The typical ecological consequences for the plant derived of this interaction varied notably among geographical regions and populations. Equally, the evolutionary impact for the plant of such interaction, estimated in terms of phenotypic selection on seed traits varied among the different stages of the seed dispersal process. See publications for more information.
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