Research project: Parallel domestication as a model to understand the repeatability of phenotypic evolution

Domestication represents the outcome of strong (human-mediated) selection; therefore Darwin suggested that the study of domestication would help us understand the process of evolution via natural selection. With recent molecular genetic techniques the study of domestication has shed light on some important evolutionary questions, including how selection affects genome-wide polymorphism, the role of cis- and trans- mutations, and the genetic architecture of quantitative traits. But there is another question in evolutionary biology that could be investigated by studying domestication, however has received very little attention: how repeatable is evolution?

Supervisors: Dr Mark Chapman & Prof Gail Taylor

Funding: University of Southampton

Funding Duration: October 2014 - September 2017