Turnbull
Fakultäten » Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät » Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Institut für » Ecology & Environment » PD Dr. Lindsay Turnbull » Turnbull
Current research project
| Title / Titel | Aphids as drivers of natural selection | ||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | Identifying the processes which contribute to the maintenance of diversity at all levels of biological organisation continues to stimulate geneticists and ecologists alike. Natural enemies, such as herbivores and pathogens are considered to play an important role as they often impose frequency-dependent selection, in which rare alleles or species gain an advantage. In addition, different species of herbivore may select for different resistance traits, and this coupled with their unpredictable occurrence in both space and time could lead to different combinations of resistance traits being favoured in different places or years. This study will use the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and three species of phloem-feeding aphids to test experimentally whether single herbivore species select for unique resistance traits and whether multiple herbivores combined will interact and select for entirely different trait combinations. Arabidopsis produces leaf hairs and glucosinolates, a form of secondary metabolite, as resistance traits. Production of these traits is costly and results in decreased seed set, thus they are only affordable in the presence of herbivores. Different herbivores differ in their reaction to these resistance traits and some specialist aphids are even attracted by glucosinolates. This study will quantify the selective pressures exerted by three aphid species on resistance traits of Arabidopsis by exposing a genetically diverse population for several generations to constant aphid feeding pressure. The project is unique in taking such a multi-generational approach, which allows weak selection pressures to accumulate over time, and it exploits both natural genetic variation and knock-out mutants to couple phenotypic changes to selection on particular genes. |
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| Publications / Publikationen | Paul-Victor, C., Zust, T., Rees, M., Kliebenstein, D.J., & Turnbull, L.A. (2010) A new method for measuring relative growth rate can uncover the costs of defensive compounds in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytologist 187, 1102 – 1111. | ||||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | aphids, herbivory, plant defences, glucosinolates, trichomes | ||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Forschungskredit der Universität Zürich |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Apr 2010 to Dec 2012 |