SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Department of Evolutionary Functional Genomics, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University

Address: Avdelningen för evolutionär funktionsgenomik, Norbyvägen 18 D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Fax: +46 (0)18-471 6424
Web page: http://www.genetik.uu.se/

Contact person: Professor Martin Lascoux, phone: +46 (0)18 471 64 16

At the Dept. of Evolutionary Functional Genomics the scientists study the genetic basis of plant adaptation, combining information on gene function from model organisms with studies of variation in adaptive traits in different species. The aim is to identify genes that affect variation in traits such as flowering time and growth rhythm, with a strategy to integrate traditional ecological and phylogeographic studies with genomics and population genetics, at both theoretical and experimental levels. They also study genome evolution in plants, in particular the importance of gene and genome duplications that are both extremely common among plants. Another important evolutionary question that we pursue is the importance of changes in regulatory DNA as compared to changes in protein coding DNA.

Since 2005 the former Dept. of Conservation Biology and Genetics is part of the Dept. of Evolutionary Functional Genomics.

South Asia related research at the department:

In November 2004 Prof. Martin Lascoux received SEK 600 000 as a three year grant (2005-07) from the Swedish Research Links programme (funded by Sida and the Swedish Research Council) for an project titled ”Species Recovery program for red-listed medical plants species in India”. More information on the Swedish Research Links grants 2004.

In November 2007, Prof. Lascaux received SEK 1.8 million as a three years grant (2008-10) from Sida's Developing Country Research Council (U-landsforskningsrådet) for a similar project titled ”Species Recovery program for medicinal plants species in the human-dominated forest landscapes in the Western Ghats, India”. More information about the 2007 Sida grants.
The project will be carried out in collaboration with Dr. R. Uma Shankeer at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India.