Project overview
This PhD project will explore the mechanisms that could have contributed to the evolutionary advantage of tomato crop progenitor in early cultivation compared to wild relatives focusing on plasticity, rate of mutation and trait-linkage. Another focus of this research is on TE contribution to the diversification of the tomato clade, that is vital in exploiting TE insertions near or within genes, and their influence on physiological and morphological variation, which can be utilised for crop improvement.
