Job Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) - PhD position Molecular Plant Physiology

For many traits of plants and animals hereditary variation exists in nature. The genetic regulation of such traits is often complex due to their polygenic nature. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana can be effectively used to dissect these complex traits by using the natural variation present within this species. Until recently genetic analyses were restricted to experimental populations. Another genetic approach that makes use of a much larger part of the available genetic variation within a species is association or linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping using historical recombination events. Theoretical and recently empirical studies have shown that LD in Arabidopsis is extensive and can therefore be used to create a very high resolution haplotype map.

Field grown crops are exposed to a wide variety of environmental stresses of which for Solanaceae temperature, drought and salt stress are the primary threats. We will explore the wide natural variation present within A. thaliana to identify differential responses to these abiotic stresses both in terms of whole plant performance, tissue specific responses as well as the underlying molecular pathways. The results obtained will then be translated to crop plants, especially potato and tomato.