Experimental evolution of transgenerational effects:
testing the theory
Supervisory team:
Main supervisor: Prof Stuart Townley (University of Exeter)
Second supervisor: Prof Mark E. Viney (University of Bristol)
Dr Alastair Wilson (University of Exeter), Dr Bram Kuijper (University of Exeter)
Host institution: University of Exeter
Project description:
Are phenotypic characters like size or behaviour always genetically inherited or are there other ways
in which such traits can be passed on between generations? This PhD project aims to find this out by
testing recent mathematical models that predict when and where alternative means of inheritance
are selectively favoured. We will approach this using experimental evolution in the nematode worm
Caenorhabditis elegans, which is known to use small RNAs and chromatin modifications as
transgenerational effects with which it can influences phenotypes of descendants up to seven
generations later. By evolving these worms in the lab for 50 generations in a range of different
environmental conditions, the project aims to find out whether certain forms of fluctuating selection
in the lab favour such transgenerational effects. It will also determine how evolutionary changes are
mediated through small RNA and chromatin modification pathways. Using high-throughput laboratory
techniques like RNAseq and RADseq we will determine how genetic changes result in long term
changes in transgenerational expression profiles (see Figure 1). The final part of the project will then
merge novel insights from the experiments with mathematical models on the evolution of
transgenerational effects.