University of Tasmania, Australia

Genetics of speciation and hybridisation in eucalypts

State-of-the-art genomic technology will be used to examine genetic divergence, hybridisation and introgression in the eucalypts. Such studies are important for understanding the evolutionary history of this iconic Australian genus and to better predict its evolutionary responses to environmental change. The project will build on long-running studies by our research group of evolutionary processes in the eucalypts of south-eastern Australia, focusing on the largest section (Maidenaria) of subgenus Symphyomyrtus. This project will study the extent and genetic nature of hybridisation in natural eucalypt populations and the evolutionary consequences of introgression. The student will use the newly developed eucalypt DArT array to study zones of introgression. Because the markers in the array have been mapped and sequenced there is the potential to find genomic regions associated with species divergence and introgression, as well as identify potential candidate genes through exploration of the eucalypt gemone sequence to be released in 2010. Through further linking of molecular and quantitative genetic approaches, the phenotypic and fitness consequences of such gene exchange will be discovered.