Postdoctoral Scholar Position: Mechanisms of reproductive isolation between crops and their wild relatives Location: Université Paris-Saclay Department: Quantitative Genetics and Evolution - Le Moulon (https://moulon.inrae.fr/en/) Open and close dates: August 2025 until filled (will begin reviewing applications immediately). Key words: Evolutionary genomics, Domestication, Speciation, Incompatibilities, Plant. Plant domestication can be viewed as an early step in the divergence of independently evolving lineages, usually under strong selection at least in the cultivated pool. As a consequence, reproductive isolation between wild and domesticated crops can have already evolved, potentially leading to reproductive isolation (RI) that less fit hybrid offspring when crossed, and at the genome level by the occurrence of genomic regions that act as barriers reducing local gene flow in comparison to the rest of the genome [1]. The ANR-funded DomIsol project aims at characterizing the genomic and phenotypic divergence between crop species and their wild relatives, and inferring the extent of reproductive isolation in 14 species. In the framework of this project, we have developed RIDGE [2], a method that aims at detecting genomic regions potentially involved in reproductive isolation (barrier loci) and involves identifying outlier loci with specific signatures. RIDGE utilizes an Approximate Bayesian Computation model-averaging approach based on random forest to accommodate diverse scenarios of lineage divergence. Although RIDGE has been successfully applied to outcrossing crow species with a divergence dating back to 80,000 generations, the question of its application to selfing species and/or more recent diverging lineages remains open. Furthermore, we poorly understand the impact of considering linked selection through modeling heterogeneous effective population size along the genome. In theory, this should allow us to distinguish between barrier loci and selected loci within populations (such as those involved in local adaptation, for example), but we aim to test this more rigorously and across a variety of demographic scenarios using simulations. In addition, we would like to apply RIDGE in the genus Zea, that encompasses the domestic maize but also several teosinte species with increased divergence from maize. Other perspectives concern the detection of long-distance LD across the barrier loci detected, and segregation distortions in the offspring of F2 segregating populations, or the comparative analyses of the genomic of reproductive isolation in 14 wild/domesticated systems available in the lab. We are therefore seeking a highly motivated postdoc candidate with a PhD in evolutionary genomics and strong skills in population genetics, bioinformatic (simulation tools) and biostatistic analyzes (R programming, versioning, management of large datasets and data visualization). The postdoc will be in charge of carrying population genomic analyses, conducting simulations using both RIDGE and SLIM, and of exploring other aspects depending on his/her interest. Working environment, starting date The project will be carried out at the Génétique Quantitative & Evolution (GQE-Le Moulon) lab within the IDEEV institute at Paris-Saclay University. The postdoc will be co-supervised by S. Glémin (ECOBIO, Rennes), benefiting from the expertise and pipelines of both research teams, as well as from close collaborations with the other DomIsol partners: Catherine Dogimont (GAFL) and Yves Vigouroux (IRD). The starting date could be as soon as October 1st, 2025, and the initial contract is for 12 months with one- or two-years renewal. The gross annual salary is euro 53,000/year (Full time - 40h/w) including medical benefits, which amounts to approximately euro 29,000 net after social contributions. Please send your CV, the names and contact information of two references as well as a letter of interest in a single pdf file to: Maud Tenaillon: maud.tenaillon@inrae.fr GQE-Le Moulon, https://moulon.inrae.fr/en/equipes/gevad/ References [1] Tenaillon M.I., Burban E., Huynh S., Wojcik A., Thuillet A-C, Manicacci D., Gérard P. R., Alix K., Belcram H., Cornille A., Brault M., Stevens R., Lagnel J., Dogimont C., Vigouroux Y., Glémin S. 2023. Crop domestication as a step toward reproductive isolation. American Journal of Botany. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.16173. [2] Burban E., Tenaillon M.I., Glémin S. 2024. RIDGE, a tool tailored to detect gene flow barriers across species pairs. Molecular Ecology Resources doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13944. mtenaillon (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)