Tardent, Nadine

During my PhD I will study questions related to the maintenance of sexual reproduction, facultative sex strategies and the role of ploidy. In order to do so I work on the development of a new model system, the freshwater oligochaete Lumbricus variegatus.
The blackworm Lumbriculus variegatus is comprised of facultative sexual diploid individuals as well as presumably obligate asexual polyploidpolyploidy ones. Both types can reproduce asexually via autotomy (=splitting and regenerating into genetically identical daughter individuals), while so far only the diploids have been observed to also reproduce sexually. In Switzerland, we often find these two types in sympatry, while in certain habitats only either one of the two types can be found.
I will therefore examine the mechanisms responsible for the observed patterns in geographic distribution, investigate potential costs of facultative sexuality in simulations and experiments, and lastly, evaluate the role of polyploidy in adaptation.
And you guessed it – as I am in Jukka’s group – of course I am interested in parasites, too. Luckily (for me), these worms host a number of different potential parasites that are only waiting for me to study them.