Available undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate projects

Molecular Ecology and Evolution

For more information on the various projects, please contact Hans K. Stenøien .

Master projects

PhD projects

Post-doc opportunities

Master projects:

1) Genetic structure of Arabidopsis thaliana : the role of seed banks

The model organism of flowering plants, Arabidopsis thaliana , is a fugitive, selfing, annual plant, mostly occupying disturbed habitats. Contrary to expectations, we have documented unexpectedly high levels of variability in morphological and molecular markers within natural populations of this species. One possible explanation for this is that local populations of A. thaliana maintain seed banks consisting of genetic variants established throughout history. The existence of seed banks would buffer population dynamics, reduce the effect of genetic drift and thereby contribute to the maintenance of genetic variation within populations. The aim of this project is to determine whether natural populations of A. thaliana maintain seed banks, and if so, to evaluate how these seed banks affect population viabilities. Deciding whether seed banks play ecological and evolutionary roles or not will be a significant contribution to our understanding of the biology of this important model organism.

2) The role of mRNA stability on levels of gene expression in Arabidopsis and Drosophila genomes

A multitude of factors contribute to the regulation of gene expression in living cells. We have shown that the stability against degradation of mRNA molecules is not associated with transcript abundance in fruit flies ( Drosophila ), but there is a correlation between mRNA stability and codon usage. mRNA stability may be associated with other aspects of gene expression than transcription rate in Drosophila and other organisms. The aim of the present project is to study putative associations between mRNA stability and gene expression in one or several model organisms.

3) Factors determining speciation rates in primitive plants

The rate of evolution, or “evolutionary potential” of primitive plants, i.e. mosses and liverworts, has been debated for 40 years. It has long been recognised that many mosses have experienced a very slow morphological, and possibly molecular, evolution compared to higher plants. Still, some genera, e.g. peat mosses ( Sphagnum ), consist of many species possibly due to some adaptive radiation event. The aim of this project is to test specific hypotheses concerning what factors may have been associated with high rates of speciation in Sphagnum . This may shed light on the apparent paradox that Sphagnum mosses have a slow evolution and still maintain high levels of variability.

4) Rates of molecular evolution in primitive plants

It is widely believed that mosses have experienced a very slow morphological evolution compared to higher plants. However, high levels of genetic variability have been documented in many species. This is seemingly in contradiction with basic evolutionary theory. One should expect that there is a close relationship between evolutionary rates and levels of genetic variation that natural selection can act upon. It is virtually unknown to what extent the rates of evolution are low also on the molecular level in mosses. The aim of this project is to quantify levels of molecular evolutionary rates and determine whether evolution proceeds as slowly on the molecular levels as it does on the morphological level in primitive plants.

PhD and Post doc opportunities:

Please contact Hans K. Stenøien for more information.

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Research