Today Dr Xiaomeng Mao joined as a new postdoc in the Slotte lab. Xiaomeng will be working in a Knut and Alice Wallenberg funded project on the impact of pollination mode shifts on pollen evolution and genomic signatures of selection.

Today Joyce Koh started her PhD studies in Ecology and Evolution in the Slotte lab. Joyce will be working in a Knut and Alice Wallenberg funded project on the impact of pollination mode shifts on pollen evolution and genomic signatures of selection.

The paper “Whole-genome duplication increases genetic diversity and load in outcrossing Arabidopsis arenosa” has now been published in PNAS! This is the result of a collaborative effort that the Slotte lab contributed to, and that was spearheaded by Jakub Vlček and Filip Kolář from Charles University, Prague, together with Levi Yant from the Swedish Agricultural University. Congratulations to all coauthors!

Vlček J, Hämälä T, Vives Cobo C, Curran E, Šrámková G, Slotte T, Schmickl R, Yant L, Kolář F. 2025. Whole-genome duplication increases genetic diversity and load in outcrossing Arabidopsis arenosa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, In press. Press release from SLU.

Our manuscript entitled “Genomic studies in Linum shed light on the evolution of the distyly supergene and the molecular basis of convergent floral evolution” has now been accepted for publication in the New Phytologist! Big congratulations to all coauthors, and especially to co-first authors Panagiotis-Ioannis Zervakis and Zoé Postel!

In the study, we present new high-quality haplotype-phased genome assemblies of Linum grandiflorum and Linum perenne, and use these as a foundation to identify the distyly S-locus supergenes of these species. We compare and contrast gene and repeat content at the S-loci of L. grandiflorum and L. perenne with that of the previously characterized S-locus of L. tenue, and show that only two genes are conserved across all species, the distyly candidate genes TSS1 and WDR-44. We infer an ancient origin of the Linum distyly S-locus at or around the diversification of the genus, and show that distyly candidate genes are conserved at the sequence level over 33 Mya. Finally, we show that the distyly S-locus likely regulates style length via a conserved mechanism depending on the brassinosteroid pathway, the same pathway that regulates style length in distylous Turnera and Primula. Together, our results shed light on the age and mode of origin of the distyly supergene in Linum, and suggest that specific hormonal pathways have repeatedly contributed to the convergent phenotypic evolution of distyly.

We have an open PhD student position (four years employment) open for applications! We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with strong interest and training in evolutionary genomics. For more information see Opportunities and the full ad. Apply by April 22, 2025!

Great funding news – Dr Yannick Woudstra has just won a MSCA postdoctoral fellowship hosted by the Slottelab at Stockholm University! His project will investigate the evolutionary fate of pollen in asexual plants, using dandelions (Taraxacum) as a model. Congratulations on winning this highly competitive grant! We look forward to working with you on the project, in collaboration with Koen Verhoeven, Barbara Gravendeel, Ivo Rieu, Jan Kirschner, and Casper van der Kooi!

Today Dr Huiqin Yi, a new postdoctoral fellow is starting in the lab. Huiqin will be working on supergene evolution in Linum using genomic data analyses. Welcome!!!

The project “”Harnessing evolutionary transitions, machine learning, and genomics to decode pollen evolution and unravel sexual selection mechanisms shared across kingdoms” has been funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation for 5 years with 31 MSEK. The main applicant is Prof. Tanja Slotte, and co-applicants on the project are Prof. John Fitzpatrick, Dr. Allison Hsiang, and Prof. Catarina Rydin, all from Stockholm University. Read more about the project in Swedish here.

On October 25th, Dr. Matteo Fumagalli from Queen Mary University of London will be visiting DEEP and Stockholm University to give a PhD course and seminar in deep learning for population genetics. 

Dr. Fumagalli is an expert in population genomics and has developed and applied computational methods to highlight signatures of natural selection in the genome and to infer population demographic histories from large-scale population genomic data sets of model and non-model species.

On October 25th, Dr. Fumagalli will give a PhD level short course with the title “A (gentle) introduction to deep learning for population genetic analysis” and a seminar on Generative AI models for demographic inferences from genomic data that will be open for all.

The course will run on October 25th, 2024 from 10 am to 5 pm and will qualify for 1 hp. 

Today Risha Na started her PhD studies in Ecology and Evolution in the Slotte lab. Risha will complete her thesis work within the Formas funded project “Unlocking genetic variation for climate adaptation of crops”. Welcome, Risha!