PhD project
I am interested in the structure of plant populations and their changes due to ecological and evolutionary processes. Specifically, the project aimed (i) at investigating various aspects of the population biology of Veratrum album, a tall lily toxic to livestock and (ii) at studying factors leading to the invasion success of Centaurea stoebe, a species native to Europe and introduced into North America. The first species, V. album, is a research model to study the weed problem in mountain pastures and meadows, species-rich grasslands threatened in abundance and diversity by changing farming activities. The latter, C. stoebe, serves as a model species to understand the causes and consequences of biological invasions, a fundamental challenge to ecologists and evolutionary biologists.
My research on V. album included a large 3-years field experiment to elucidate the impact of large (cattle) and small (molluscs) herbivores on seedling recruitment as well as climate chamber and field experiments to identify factors influencing the germination of V. album seeds. With molecular markers (AFLP), I investigated the genetic structure of various V. album populations across Europe to answer the question: What is the role of past (historical) and contemporary processes in shaping the genetic pattern in this species? In the studies on C. stoebe I used flow cytometry to determine the geographical distribution of cytotypes (di- and tetraploids) and their role in the invasion success of this species. With molecular markers (cp-DNA, AFLP) I aimed at determining the origin of invasive populations as well as their migration history.
Lab protocols
For my phylogeographic studies I used the AFLP technique quite extensively. I tried to optimise the method in two ways: First, I applied a multiplex PCR approach, a method that uses more than one labelled primer per PCR reaction (e.g. three). Once established, it is much more efficient concerning time and money (AFLP multiplex protocol). Second, I tried to automatise the conversion of the AFLP raw data (the patterns one gets with an ABI PRISM® 310 Genetic Analyzer) into a binary matrix. I used the GelComparII™ software (Applied Maths) to handle the problem (analysis protocol for ABI GA 310 AFLP-runs). Suggestions and improvements to the protocols are welcome.
Current Research, Publications & Curriculum vitae
Please see my personal webpage UrsTreier.net