We mainly use quantitative genetics to investigate how different factors affect the adaptive potential of populations.  The most general questions we are currently addressing are:

• How to detect non-additive genetic effects with phenotypic data.

• The contribution of non-additive genetic effects (dominance and epistasis) to the adaptive potential of populations.

We are using a mix of theoretical modeling and experimental approaches (using line-cross analyses) to do so.

Self-fertilization has been thought to be an evolutionary dead-end. However, recent empirical and theoretical studies found that the effect of inbreeding on genetic diversity is weak compared to historical predictions, self-fertilization having no effect on the adaptive potential of populations. 

Currently, our main questions regarding self-fertilization are:

• How the ecological consequences of mating systems can affect the adaptive potential of populations.

• How self-fertilization affects the genome size of species.

• What is the contribution of non-additive genetic diversity on the adaptive potential of inbred species.

We are using a mix of theoretical modeling, experimental, and meta-analytical approaches to do so.

Is polyploidy a response to stressful conditions, an evolutionary dead-end, or both? This remains an open question, and we are trying to understand how autopolyploidy evolves and what are the short- and long-term consequences of genome doubling on the adaptive potential of populations. 

Currently, our main questions regarding polyploidy are:

• Investigating the production and genetic architecture of unreduced gametes in nature.

• How and when are polyploidy and self-fertilization supposed to evolve simultaneously?

• What are the short- and long-term consequences of polyploidy on phenotypes and genetic diversity?

• Can polyploidy lead to modifications of the plants-pollinators interactions?

We are using a mix of theoretical modeling, experimental, and meta-analytical approaches to do so.