Understanding the rules of convergent evolution

The long-term goal of our research group is to resolve the step wise evolutionary emergence of a complex specialized metabolic trait. The objective of this PhD is to build on our recent discovery that betalain pigments have convergently evolved at least four times in Caryophyllales. Our central
hypothesis is that, each independent origin of the betalain metabolic pathway will have entailed a convergent suite of associated genetic change across multiple genetic components. You will use exceptional phylogenomic resources for Caryophyllales and proven heterologous assays to assess
the evolution of key genes and gene networks involved in the betalain biosynthesis pathway. Using the combined power of these tools, you will resolve major steps in the evolution of the betalain pathway and explore how and why it has evolutionarily replaced the analogous pigments, anthocyanins.