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Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center
Frontiers in Plant Sciences: Population genetics and genomics of adaptation
Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Karl Schmid, University of Hohenheim
Dr. Fabian Freund, University of Hohenheim
Location: ETH
Dates: May 23 to 25, 2016
Credit Points: 2 ETCS
Course Description
The rapid increase in the amount of phenotypic and genomic information from natural
populations, common garden experiments and mapping populations allows to dissect
patterns and processes of plant adaptation. This development is matched by new statistical
approaches and software tools to analyse genomic and phenotypic data. The course provides
a hands-on introduction to the study of plant adaptation with a focus on population genetics
concepts and tools. We will cover demographic analysis with coalescent simulations and
Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC), model selection and validation, identification of
genomic regions involved in local adaptation using tests of selection or correlations with
environmental parameters.
Course Program and Learning Objectives
Program:
 Lectures and discussions of few selected publications
 Hands-on tutorials in demographic analysis and selection detection
 Individual analysis of a small dataset
Objectives:
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understand the basics of population genetic theory in the context of adaptation,
be familiar with key software tools used to analyse adaptation
know how to conduct a reproducible research project with a real dataset
Prior Knowledge:
 Some knowledge of population genetics and genomics
 Basic skills in using R and RStudio
Number of Participants: 16 persons
Individual Performance and Assessment:
Evaluation will be based on a written and executable report created with RMarkdown that
describes the analysis of the given dataset and discusses the result.
Trainer:
Karl Schmid is a biologist and Professor of Crop Biodiversity and Breeding Informatics. His
main interests are the analysis of genetic diversity in wild and crop plants, and its use in plant
breeding.
Fabian Freund holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and has specialized in coalescent theory and
analysis of the demographic history of populations
Both trainers work at the at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed Science and Population
Genetics at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. For more information:
http://evoplant.uni-hohenheim.de