During my PhD, the focus of my research was on how genetic distance between any two individuals can impact their offspring’s fitness. Specifically, I studied cases of hybrid necrosis in Arabidopsis thaliana, where high genetic variability present in components of the plant immune system can result in autoimmune offspring. In addition, I identified inbreeding depression, a consequence of too little parental genetic distance, as a common underlying cause of unfit A. arenosa segregating in wild populations.
At TSL, I look forward to diving into the world of plant-pathogen interactions, where I will focus on NLR (-network) macroevolution.
Small peptides modulate the immune function of the ion channel-like protein ACD6 in Arabidopsis thaliana. bioRxiv preprint Jan 26, 2021 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.25.428077
Homozygosity at its Limit: Inbreeding Depression in Wild Arabidopsis arenosa Populations. bioRxiv preprint Jan 25, 2021 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.24.427284
A Truncated Singleton NLR Causes Hybrid Necrosis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Mol Biol Evol. 2021 Jan 23;38(2):557-574. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa245
Plant NLR Diversity: The Known Unknowns of pan-NLRomes. The Plant Cell, koaa002, https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koaa002
Natural selection on the Arabidopsis thaliana genome in present and future climates. Nature. 2019 Sep;573(7772):126-129. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1520-9.
RPW8/HR repeats control NLR activation in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genet. 2019 Jul 25;15(7):e1008313. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008313.
A rainfall-manipulation experiment with 517 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. bioRxiv preprint Jun 08, 2018 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/186767
2021 – present Post-doctoral Scientist, The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK
2020 – 2021 Post-doctoral Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
2016 – 2020 PhD Student, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
2010 – 2016 BSc and MSc in Biology, University of Tübingen, Germany