Biography

In my PhD thesis, I am using the diploid-tetraploid Biscutella laevigata species complex to investigate the ecological and genomic mechanisms underlying autopolyploid speciation. I first use sequence data and niche modelling across the species range to study how the different lineages survived the ice age and how the tetraploids originated and successfully expanded across the whole central Alps. Using population genomics, I then further investigate the mechanisms of adaptation to elevation in both diploids and tetraploids. Finally, using synthetic tetraploids I address the genomic, transcriptomic and phenotypic consequences of genome doubling.