Non-coding, regulatory elements called enhancers and silencers, that modulate the level of gene expression in the different cells and tissues, are likely to play an important role in crops response to environmental factors. They help establish gene regulatory networks that can affect the expression of numerous genes involved in the same biological functions. However, how the structure of these networks changes in response to the environment, and their role in climate adaptation of crops, is largely unknown. Using maize response to water deficit, a model that is important both for our economy and the sustainability of our agricultural practices, This project will aim at studying how networks are rewired in response to water deficit, how much they already participate to water deficit adaptation, and if these information can help develop more accurate model of maze yield prediction in the context of water deficit.
Polygenic adaptation, in which small changes in allele frequencies co-occur at multiple variants, has been proposed to be a major adaptive mechanism for polygenic traits. Because 90% of genetic variants associated to polygenic traits are located in non-coding, regulatory regions, I am interested in studying the extent to which polygenic selection targets regulatory regions of the human genome. I propose to combine network biology and population genetics methods in order to develop a new approach to detect signatures of polygenic adaptation in regulatory regions.