Our main research interests are concerned with the broad field of plant evolution and phylogenetics. We use comparative, bioinformatics approaches to gain insights into the fascinating evolutionary dynamics of plant genomes. We are also interested in developing computational tools that can be used to gain novel biological insights from various kinds of data.
Current projects in the lab include:

Polyploidy
Studying the consequences of whole genome duplications on patterns of diversification and the effect of polyploidy on rates of molecular sequence evolution.

Methods development
We are currently developing computational tools and apply them to genomics data to enhance our understanding regarding the relationship between the genotype and the phenotype. By applying these methods we aim to understand the factors that influence the rate of genome evolution.

Plant domestication
Using a combination of computational tools with large scale genomics data we hope to gain novel insights into the evolutionary consequences of plant domestication and the evolutionary selection forces that shaped their genomes. By identifying unique patterns of selection acting on certain genes, we aim to reveal common genomics characteristics of plant crops that are important for human consumption.

Email: itaymay@tauex.tau.ac.il