Projects
Poor but prosperous: how island biota survive genetic impoverishment. University of Antwerp
A future for cacti? Developing a strategy for genetic management of ex situ collections to enable conservation and restoration of biodiversity Ghent University
Cacti are very important in horticulture. As a consequence, wild cactus populations suffer much from illegal harvest and trade. Therefore, cacti are a priority for Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the IUCN/SSC Global Trees Specialist Group and the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study. Despite the conservation priority of cacti, genetic diversity of ex situ collections is largely undetermined and has hardly been ...
The role of genetic variation in explaining the invasion success of nonnative species University of Antwerp
Ecology of foodborne pathogens KU Leuven
This research focuses on how foodborne pathogens experience and respond to their environment, and in particular the stresses and selection pressures they encounter throughout the food production chain. By elaborating analytical genetics and live cell biology approaches, stress response and adaptation phenomena of foodborne pathogens are dissected and studied from single-cell behaviour up to population level strategies. More specifically, this ...
Evolution and health implications of fine-scale sub-structure in human populations KU Leuven
Genomics of rapid adaptation KU Leuven
A general assumption in evolutionary biology is that the speed at which species adapt to environmental change is negatively related to the molecular and genetic complexity of the traits involved. Yet, many ecologically relevant traits involve many genes, and many examples show that species can adapt remarkably fast with complex molecular/genetic and phenotypic changes in a few generations. With the continuous improvement of genomic and ...