Our research seeks to reconstruct the recent history of adaptive molecular variation in plant systems. In other terms, we aim at dissecting the molecular mechanisms of Darwinian evolution in complex natural systems. We work with the weedy annual and model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana and its close relatives A. lyrata and A. halleri. Our work focuses on understanding links between life history strategies and fitness. We further intend to develop new methods to track the action of natural selection at the molecular level. These methods could find wide applications in CEPLAS.

1. Wieters B, Steige KA, He F, Koch EM, Ramos-Onsins SE, Gu H, Guo YL, Sunyaev S, de Meaux J (2021) Polygenic adaptation of rosette growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Genet 17(1):e1008748. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008748.
2. Takou M, Wieters B, Kopriva S, Coupland G, Linstadter A, De Meaux J (2019) Linking genes with ecological strategies in Arabidopsis thaliana. J Exp Bot 70(4):1141-1151. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ery447.
3. Metz J, Lampei C, Baumler L, Bocherens H, Dittberner H, Henneberg L, de Meaux J, Tielborger K (2020) Rapid adaptive evolution to drought in a subset of plant traits in a large-scale climate change experiment. Ecol Lett 23(11):1643-1653. doi: 10.1111/ele.13596.
4. Fustier MA, Martinez-Ainsworth NE, Aguirre-Liguori JA, Venon A, Corti H, Rousselet A, Dumas F, Dittberner H, Camarena MG, Grimanelli D, Ovaskainen O, Falque M, Moreau L, de Meaux J, Montes-Hernandez S, Eguiarte LE, Vigouroux Y, Manicacci D, Tenaillon MI (2019) Common gardens in teosintes reveal the establishment of a syndrome of adaptation to altitude. PLoS Genet 15(12):e1008512. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008512.
5. Dittberner H, Becker C, Jiao WB, Schneeberger K, Holzel N, Tellier A, de Meaux J (2019) Strengths and potential pitfalls of hay transfer for ecological restoration revealed by RAD-seq analysis in floodplain Arabis species. Mol Ecol 28(17):3887-3901. doi: 10.1111/mec.15194.

Interview at CEPLAS Faces