Marcel Dorken

Evolutionary transitions from one form of reproduction to another are associated with key changes in the ecology, life-history and genetic structure of plant populations. I am interested in two of these transitions, the evolution of separate sexes (dioecy) from combined sexes (hermaphroditism), and the evolution of asexuality from sexual reproduction. Most of the ongoing projects in the lab involve the first of these transitions, the evolution of separate sexes, which has occurred at least 100 times in the flowering plants alone. We use a combination of field work, manipulative experiments, and genetic marker studies to examine how and why unisexuality has evolved in this group.