The activities of our research group have been conducted on the Population Genetics of forest trees and other plant species for several decades. Neutral genetic molecular markers are being used to conduct large-scale surveys about the distribution of the genetic variability among different Italian populations of the chestnut tree and of the Mediterranean shrub Cistus albidus, with a special emphasis on the conservation aspects of the work.
The results are analyzed with the aim of answering questions about the genetic structure of the species, answering demographic issues and modeling ecological speciation using a Bayesian approach. Phylogenetic relationships are also investigated at the molecular level.
Staff and contacts
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- Prof. Giorgio Binelli
- Dr. Gianluca Lombardo (post-doc)
- Dr. Marta Cavallini (PhD student)
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Find us: Campus Bizzozero; Via Dunant, 3; 2100 Varese; red floor
Keywords: Population Genetics – Evolution – Forest trees – Molecular markers – Conservation Genetics
ERC sectors: LS8_2 Biodiversity, conservation biology, conservation genetics – LS8_3 Population biology, population dynamics, population genetics – LS8_5 Evolutionary genetics
Collaborations: Centro Nazionale Carabinieri Biodiversità di Peri (VR); Unité de Recherche Écologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes, INRAE, Avignon; Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna.