Dr. Marinela Dukic

I am an evolutionary biologist, with a special interest in the evolution of meiosis, determinants of recombination rate variation and the mechanisms through which highly conserved processes can change and adapt in the face of challenging environments. To tackle these questions, I am focusing my research on meiosis, a highly-regulated cellular process essential for maintenance of genome integrity and fertility in the vast majority of sexually reproducing organisms.

From an evolutionary perspective, the importance of meiosis and associated meiotic recombination, lies in its ability to create new combinations of genes upon which natural and artificial selection can act. Like that, meiotic recombination can increase the efficiency of selective processes, boosting the potential for adaptation in natural and domesticated populations. While meiotic recombination affects the pace of adaptation of any other trait, it is known that meiosis itself is also sensitive to environmental conditions, especially temperature, even though it is not yet clear if and how such a conserved process can change as organisms evolve in response to various environmental conditions.

In my current work, I use natural variation among diploid populations of an emerging model system Arabidopsis arenosa, originating from geographically adjacent but climatically distinct regions, to investigate how meiosis evolves in diverse thermal conditions. I am using genetic, cytological and bioinformatic approaches to identify and characterize changes in meiotic genes characteristic for populations that have successfully colonized the warmer habitat. My final goal is to gain better understanding of different mechanisms plants can employ to optimize the core reproductive processes when faced with challenging environments.
Understanding this is of special importance in the light of ongoing global warming since temperature differences of even few degrees can have detrimental consequences on plant meiosis, largely impacting our food production.