EvoLunch Seminar: Dieter Ebert (University of Basel)
EvoLunch Seminar
Local adaptation
"Local adaptation"
10:15 CET
Mondi 2ab, Central Building, ISTA
Hybrid Meeting (for zoom link, email evolunch.seminar@ist.ac.at)
Human impact has changed many aspects of our planet, including climate and the quality of many habitats. Among the often-discussed stressors are changes in temperature, the incidence of droughts, and habitat salination. Freshwater organisms have experienced variation in these factors for much longer than human impact influenced them, because water bodies across large geographic areas vary in temperature, precipitation and freshwater salination. Therefore, freshwater organisms can serve as a model to help us understanding how adaptation to these factors may look like in the future. We studied the adaptation of the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna to variation in temperature, precipitation and water salinity and found for all cases strong evidence for local adaptation to the prevailing local conditions. To understand the mechanisms behind these adaptations, we determined the genes responsible for local adaptations and verified their function. We found that the mechanisms behind these adaptations are old and conserved among many organisms. Our results can serve as a model to guide research in other organisms and to anticipate the changes we may expect to see if these organisms adapt to the ecological challenges of the Anthropocene.