Fluorescent in-situ hybridisation in M. annua.

We are developing hairy root cultures in Mercurialis lineages. These are a good source of mitotic chromosomes.

We will use FISH and GISH to characterise the state of the Y chromosome for example the accumulation of transposable elements, but also to confirm the hypothesised parental species that are involved in polyploidisation in the genus. Y-specific markers could also be developed to confirm whether the different ploidy lineages use the same sex chromosomes, as well as the number of those chromosomes in the polyploids.

The project is in collaboration with the lab of Boris Vyskot and Roman Hobza.

Diploid M. annua chromosomes.

Diploid M. annua chromosomes labelled with a transposable element (red) and 5S rDNA (green).