M.W. van der Wiel (Marleen) MSc

I investigate how we can influence the meiosis in polyploid tomato plants by knocking down specific meiosis genes. During the meiosis, the egg and sperm cells are produced in both plants and animals. This process includes recombination, where parts of the homologous chromosomes are switched. In diploid species (such as humans) this process runs smoothly, but in polyploid organisms errors can occur. During my research I will use mutagenesis, to try and alter the meiosis process and reduce the errors occurring during meiosis. The end goal is to obtain a "forever hybrid" tomato species.