Werdah Iqbal (M. Sc. candidate)

I completed my B.Sc. at Queen’s University where I majored in Biology. For my Master’s thesis, I am interested in understanding the genomic changes that occur as a result of whole genome duplication. The aim is to be able to understand how genomic changes can influence phenotypic variation, specifically variation in the phenotypic trait flowering time. To address this goal, I am comparing flowering time and changes in gene expression of 45 natural diploid accessions and their corresponding synthesized tetraploid accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, originating from a wide geographic native range in Europe and Asia. I am being co-supervised by Dr. Brian Husband and Dr. Joe Colasanti in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB).