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Project properties |
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| Title | Mapping the genes controlling flowering time and vitamin content in the orphan vegetable Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae) |
| Group | Biosystematics Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Prof. dr. Eric Schranz |
| Examiner(s) | Prof. dr. Eric Schranz |
| Contact info | eric.schranz@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2020/02/01 |
| End date | 2025/12/31 |
| Description | Spider plant (Gynandropsis gynandra) is a minor leafy vegetable which belongs to the Cleomaceae family, the sister family of Brassicaceae. Besides its food use, the species is used as a medicinal plant in various parts of the world. The relatively small size of the genome (~800 Mbp), the short life cycle (4 months) and the taxonomic position of the species makes it a perfect model to study C4 photosynthesis. The assessment of the variation in carotenoids and tocopherols in a collection of 79 accessions revealed a three-fold variation in carotenoid content (pro-vitamin A), a twenty-fold variation in tocopherol (vitamin E) content and a nine-fold variation in ascorbic acid content. Several F2 populations from parents with contrasting morphology, flowering time, and metabolomic profiles are available. These populations will be phenotyped for the targeted traits. Whole-genome sequences of the parents will be used for SNP marker design for the genotyping of the segregating populations |
| Used skills | plant phenotyping, statistical analyses, analysis of whole-genome sequence data, QTL mapping. |
| Requirements | |