Abstract
I propose an ecogenomic approach to unravel the mechanisms of plant responses to habitat fragmentation and environmental change. Plant biodiversity losses are generally explained by either habitat fragmentation or environmental change. However, both factors are intricately related by the genetic processes involved, and, one of the greatest challenges in explaining biodiversity loss is to assess, not only the individual, but also the interacting effects of genetic and environmental factors. Evidence shows that habitat fragmentation results in smaller populations with decreased genetic variation and increased risk of inbreeding. Moreover, it was shown that inbreeding depression is environmentally dependent, with inbred individuals responding differently to environmental changes than outbred individuals. Recent studies show that epigenetic mechanisms, which can be triggered by the environment and inherited across generations, contribute to inbreeding depression. Therefore, to fully understand plant responses to environmental changes, epigenetic processes should also be considered. Recently, I showed for the first time that plants from different accessions can adapt to local atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates one of the most important drivers of plant biodiversity loss. I will take these results forward by studying phenotypic adaptive responses to atmospheric nitrogen deposition and inbreeding depression in a full factorial experimental design. Scabiosa columbaria, which is proven to be nitrogen sensitive and suffering from habitat fragmentation, will be used as model species. I will use state-of-the-art microarray-based gene expression technologies and physiological experiments to unravel the complex interplay of environmental, genetic and epigenetic factors on inbreeding depression and plant responses to changes in nitrogen. I will further explore the potential mechanism at the genome level that drives this interaction by linking the results to transcriptional profiling and the methylation status of inbred and outbred individuals. The project will deliver necessary knowledge for evaluating the relative impacts of environmental and genetic threats to biodiversity.
Netherlands