Genuttryckets roll i hybriders evolutionära anpassning

The role of hybridization in adaptation is increasingly appreciated. So far, hybridization research has focused on how novel allelic combinations contribute to adaptation.

Although aberrant patterns of gene expression in hybrids have been described decades ago, less than a handful studies have addressed a potential role for novel hybrid gene expression in adaptation.

An outstanding question is to which extent the frequently observed transgressive patterns of hybrid gene expression, more extreme than in both parental species, may be a basis for novel adaptation.

In this project, I will use yeast hybrids as models to address 1) if transgressive gene expression enables hybrid yeast to adapt to new environments 2) how gene expression evolves over the course of hybrid genome stabilization and the fitness consequences of this stabilization process and 3) leverage novel combinations of gene regulatory elements brought about in hybrids to identify the genomic and epigenomic mechanistic basis of novel gene expression.

Yeast hybridization lines will be run in collaboration with the Stelkens lab (SU), with a technician learning and establishing protocols in Lund. Two postdocs will analyse data and synthesise findings in synergy with the current Runemark lab.

Gene expression may have a key role in hybrid adaptation and studying the break-up of its regulation in hybrids will lead to significant advances in our understanding, relevant to many disciplines including agriculture and medicine.