Description du sujet de thèse

Sexual selection is generally thought to apply to all sexually reproducing organisms and should therefore also operate in plants. Yet, general predictions from sexual selection theory remain largely untested in the plant kingdom. In the context of the ERC SEXIPLANTS (coordinated by Jeanne Tonnabel), this PhD project aims at testing one of the most fundamental predictions of sexual selection theory: that both male-male competition and female choice favor individuals of higher genetic quality and thereby positively impacting population fitness. To address this, the project will combine three complementary approaches: (1) experimental evolution, by testing whether plant populations of Brassica rapa populations evolved under monogamy vs. polygamy for 20 generations differ in mutational load and abilities to respond to stress; (2) quantitative genetics, by testing whether plant traits related to mates and gametes are genetically correlated with other fitness components, and (3) a meta-analysis quantifying the strength of sexual selection across species and testing for angiosperm-wide associations with demographical trends and plant traits.

Contexte de travail

The recruited person will be responsible for collecting data, analyzing it, and writing manuscripts presenting the associated results:
- Setting up crossing and evolutionary response protocols under stress, and analyzing datasets related to the evolution of inbreeding depression in common gardens;
- Implementing quantitative genetics protocols and measuring traits to quantify genetic correlations;
- Updating and analyzing a database combining paternity/kinship analysis datasets in angiosperms;
- Acquiring trait data at the scale of angiosperms from databases and using sampling protocols.
The recruited person will also be jointly responsible, along with Jeanne Tonnabel, for supervising the activities of technicians and Master's students involved in these projects.
The PhD student will join a stimulating working atmosphere comprising enthusiastic researchers working on sexual selection in plants in the context of the SEXIPLANTS project with high collaboration opportunities (François Rousset, Agnès Mignot, Tim Janicke). The PhD student will work at the Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM, UMR 5554). Montpellier offers a very stimulating scientific environment for evolutionary biologists with many seminars and opportunities to interact with many renowned scientists. The working language will be English but some notions of French will be handy in the daily life.

Contraintes et risques

Constraints associated with the use of computers and experimental work.

Informations complémentaires

We are looking for candidates with a MSc degree in biology (or equivalent) with strong motivation both for understanding and testing general concepts in evolutionary biology and for highly experimental work. Knowledge on sexual selection and/or plant evolution and experience on experimental evolution/quantitative genetics/paternity analyses would be an advantage but are not required.