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John Innes Centre

Evolutionary Genetics and Natural Variation

Project Leaders:

Mike Bevan
Enrico Coen
Caroline Dean

Many of the biological processes studied in this programme such as flowering time, flower colour, organ size and plant architecture all provide selective advantages for reproductive success and are therefore important adaptive traits.

image The structure and function of flowers has evolved to attract specific pollinator species. Here a bumble bee and an Antirrhinum flower interact in a mutually beneficial way.

Natural variation in a wide range of phenotypes is exploited using genomic tools for QTL and gene identification. We study natural variation in flower colour and morphology, leaf shape and vernalisation responses to identify new and adaptive alleles.

We are also interested in how domestication selects for allelic variation in regulatory genes in Brassicas and cereals.

Resources for comparative genomics in grasses are being developed in collaboration with the Crop Genetics Department.