Topic: Characterisation of the genetic basis of environmental adaptation in Brassica rapa and its application to the development of new crop populations in the context of climate change.
Dates: 1 October 2024 – 30 September 2027
CBGP supervisors: M. Gautier, M. de Navascués & S. Boitard

The aim of Sébastien’s thesis is to analyse adaptation to environmental factors and its genetic basis in Brassica rapa, the wild ancestor of the turnip, in order to assess its genomic vulnerability to future changes. These results will then enable us to predict environments favourable to populations of cultivated turnips and, by comparing them with information on their geographical origin, to test whether these predictions validate the hypothesis of local adaptation. Finally, these results will be used to construct synthetic populations with high adaptive potential. Sébastien will use simulations to test the robustness of these methods, particularly with regard to deviations from the additive hypothesis of genetic effects.