The main goal of this project is to survey of variability in GC bases content (guanine and cytosine) related to species phylogeny and global genome evolution. The study will be devoted to model family Poaceae (grasses), typical of highest and most variable GC content within higher plants, and will concern all hierarchical levels, from inter-family, inter-generic, inter-specific, to intra-specific differences. Particular studies are devoted to (i) map the origin and consecutive evolution of high GC content of grass genomes and genes within Monocots, (ii) survey variability of GC content and chromosome size among main grass evolutionary lineages, (iii) test evolutionary significance of high GC content and thus higher DNA thermostability for plants from extreme climatic conditions, (iv) prove relation of GC content variability with transposable elements-driven genome expansions and contractions (on inter-specific level in genus Oryza, on intra-specific in Festuca pallens), and (v) to prove possible application of GC content and genome size measurements in the mapping of these processes.

Publications