Current research
Phenotypic Plasticity and Evolvability
Predicting if and how quickly organisms can adapt to anthropogenic change is one of the greatest challenges of our times. Unfortunately, prediction is notoriously challenging in practice because the rate and direction of adaptive evolutionary change depends on the phenotypic variation that is available to selection. This, in turn, depends on the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation (GP map), something that is very difficult and laborious to quantify. As a result, biologists have generally been rather pessimistic about the possibility to predict evolution over more than a few generations, even when selective pressures are known. Recent theory suggests a way out of this dilemma. The basic idea is that the responses to genetic (e.g., mutation) and environmental perturbation are linked through development. Here we set out to answer the question: Why are organisms so good at adapting, and can they get even better? Utilizing environmental perturbations as selective pressures, we are studying the relationship between plasticity and evolvability in green algae.
For more information see:
http://feiner-uller-group.se

Road Salt
Salinization of freshwater
ecosystems
is a growing hazard for organisms and ecosystem functioning worldwide. In northern
latitudes, road salt that is being transported into water bodies can cause
year-round
increases in lake salinity levels. Exploring the environmental factors driving the
susceptibility of freshwater zooplankton to road salt is crucial for assessing the
impact of salinization on food web processes. We found that the susceptibility of
freshwater zooplankton to salinization strongly depends on the dietary lipid supply
and
thus the phytoplankton
community composition. Hence, trophic state
related differences in the phytoplankton community composition need to be considered
when assessing the consequences of salinization for freshwater ecosystem
functioning.
However, in nature it is seldom only a single stressor but rather a variety of
stressors
affecting eco- system functioning and organismal interactions. We could show that
road
salt and the tire rubber antiozonant, 6PPD, have synergistic negative effects
on
the population growth on rotifers, common freshwater herbivores.
I am currently involved in a
global
study, assessing how salt tolerance of Daphnia is related to the prevailing
environmental conditions of site of origin.

Rules of Life
The growth rate hypothesis (GRH)
predicts that variation in organismal stoichiometry (C:P and N:P ratios) is
associated
with variation in P content due to shifting allocation to P-rich ribosomal RNA under
different growth rates. The GRH has found broad but
not uniform support in studies across diverse
biota
and habitats. In this project we investigate if there are fundamental rules that
link
the biochemical properties of cells to dynamical processes in eco- systems. We are
evaluating the GRH with intensive physiological, evolutionary, and ecological work
on
three model organisms that represent key ecological functional groups:
Pseudomonas
putida (chemoheterotrophic decomposer), the green alga Chlamydomonas
reinhardtii (photoautotroph), and the crustacean Daphnia pulex
(primary
consumer / herbivore).

Previous Research
Evolution of grazer resistance
Lake ecosystems around the globe
are
suffering from nutrient pollution and the associated proliferation of harmful
cyanobacteria. In past decades, eutrophication has been reversed in many lake
ecosystems
through extensive restoration measures. Making use of resurrection ecology, we
showed
how trophic state-related changes in the relative abundance of cyanobacteria
resulted in
the evolution and the subsequent loss of grazer
resistance to cyanobacteria. We demonstrated that
this evolution of grazer resistance involved changes in dietary
sterol requirements, challenging the common assumption that changes in the
ability to cope with cyanobacteria are exclusively mediated through an adaptation to
cyanobacterial toxins.
