Dr. Christian Parisod

Biography

Christian Parisod is a researcher focused on couple genome evolution and ecological responses in plants. His work has followed a natural intellectual arc through molecular processes generating adaptive diversity at local biogeographic scales. He received his PhD from the University of Lausanne and chose to focus on Buckler Mustards (Biscutella laevigata), a textbook example of a species that has successfully radiated into various ecological niches in the Alps due to whole genome duplication. Through his postdoctoral stays in France, Norway, and Switzerland, he has expanded his expertise towards the molecular drivers that investigate genome evolution in species. Currently, he is launching his own research group to study transposable elements (TEs) and speciation, primarily in the Poaceae and Brassicaceae families. Over the years, he has gathered biological genomic resources to assess genomic variation and the impact of transcriptional plasticity on the successful expansion of diploid and polyploid Buckler Mustards in the Alps. His overarching objective is to understand the interactions between genome dynamics and adaptive processes driven by environmental factors. Parisod is particularly interested in TEs as genomic drivers of evolutionary radiation and has researched the effects of hybridization on genome restructuring and epigenetic changes in TEs. Furthermore, he works on identifying genome-wide variation in relation to environmental heterogeneity and has developed methods integrating whole genome sequencing data to characterize genomic variation and its association with abiotic factors obtained from remote sensing data. He is also passionate about the conservation of alpine flora and actively promotes awareness through scientific journals such as Alpine Botany and the Swiss Botanical Society.

Research Interests