ERC Starting Grant · 2021
The basic principles of polyploidy in plants and animals
Many eukaryotes have more than two sets of chromosomes due to whole-genome duplication (WGD) and are called polyploids. WGDs explain many cases of speciation bursts and evolutionary inventions. Some evidence suggests an adaptive advantage of polyploids: the origins of many ancient WGDs correspond to the times of extreme climate change, and contemporary polyploids often occupy harsher environments compared to their ancestors. However, most new polyploids are not as lucky and rarely survive. To explain the cause, predict and manipulate this process, we need to understand the basic principles of polyploidy: (1) how it is triggered, (2) what enables the initial survival of newly formed…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.