I am interested in patterns of genetic diversity in a range of species, and the processes that affect them. I have used molecular markers to answer questions about the ecology and evolution of a variety of species from the native hazel Dormouse to African cichlid fish to Brassicas.
I am the Manager of the Warwick Genetic Resources Unit, a facility which house the UK Vegetable Genebank - a seed bank which maintains several globally significant collections of vegetable crops and related wild species. I am particularly interested in the patterns and nature of the distrubition of genetic diversity among crop species and their wild relatives. I have active research interests in carrot, particularly understanding genepool diversity and the production of pre-breeding resources in this crop. This work is carried out in the Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network project.
PhD Biological Sciences University of Southampton
MRes Analytical Biology University of Warwick
BSc (Hons) Ecology Lancaster University
I am a Fellow of the Linnean Society, Chair of the Umbellifer Crops Working Group and UK representative on the Brassica, Allium and Leafy Vegetables Working Groups of the European Co-operative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources. I am a member of the UK Plant Genetic Resources Group which provides technical and policy advice to Defra.
I have worked on various projects, including a study funded by the BBSRC/NERC 'Geneflow' initiative which looked at potential ecological effects of the commercial release of GM oilseed rape on a wild relative in the UK. I have also worked on a project investigating the diversity of disease resistance genes ('R-genes') in Brassica oleracea crop types including cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli, kohl rabi and kale. These genes play a role in pathogen recognition and so are important in terms of crop improvement but also extremely interesting from an evolutionary point of view. I have used microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic diversity surrounding the BoAP1-a gene in cauliflowers and other brassica crop types. This gene has been implicated in the development of the curd tissue seen in cauliflowers but direct evidence of this is lacking.
All of my projects have used existing genetic diversity naturally present in the species of interest to answer questions relating to environmental and ecological issues and the genetic control of important traits.
- Stelmach, Katarzyna, Macko-Podgorni, Alicja, Allender, Charlotte J., Grzebelus, Dariusz, 2021. Genetic diversity structure of western-type carrots. BMC Plant Biology, 21 (1)
- MartÃnez-Flores, Fernando, Crespo, Manuel B., Geoffriau, Emmanuel, Allender, Charlotte J., Ruess, Holly, Arbizu, Carlos I., Simon, Philipp, Spooner, David M., 2019. Extended studies of interspecific relationships in Daucus (Apiaceae) using DNA sequences from ten nuclear orthologues. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 191 (2), pp. 164-187
- Geoffriau, E., Charpentier, T., Huet, S., Hägnefelt, A., Lopes, V., Nothnagel, T., Lohwasser, U., Mallor Gimenez, C., Allender, Charlotte J., 2019. CarrotDiverse : understanding variation in a wild relative of carrot. Acta Horticulturae, pp. 151-156
- Davies, Laura R., Allender, Charlotte J., 2017. Who is sowing our seeds? A systematic review of the use of plant genetic resources in research. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 64 (8), pp. 1999-2008
- Grzebelus, Dariusz, Iorizzo, Massimo, Senalik, Douglas, Ellison, Shelby, Cavagnaro, Pablo, Macko-Podgorni, Alicja, Heller-Uszynska, Kasia, Kilian, Andrzej, Nothnagel, Thomas, Allender, Charlotte J., Simon, P. W. (Philipp W.), Baranski, Rafal, 2014. Diversity, genetic mapping, and signatures of domestication in the carrot (Daucus carota L.) genome, as revealed by Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) markers. Molecular Breeding, 33 (3), pp. 625-637
- Thormann, I., Yang, Q., Allender, C., Bas, N., Campbell, G., Dulloo, M. E., Ebert, A. W., Lohwasser, U., Pandey, C., Robertson, L. D., Spellman, O., 2013. Development of best practices for ex situ conservation of radish germplasm in the context of the crop genebank knowledge base. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 60 (4), pp. 1251-1262
- Iorizzo, Massimo, Senalik, Douglas, Ellison, Shelby, Grzebelus, Dariusz, Cavagnaro, Pablo, Allender, Charlotte J., Brunet, J., Spooner, D. M., Van Deynze, A., Simon, P. W. (Philipp W.), 2013. Genetic structure and domestication of carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) (Apiaceae). American Journal of Botany, 100 (5), pp. 930-938
- Rycroft-Malone, Jo, Seers, Kate, Chandler-Oatts, Jacqueline, Hawkes, C. M., Crichton, Nicola, Allender, Charlotte J., Bullock, Ian, Strunin, Leo, 2013. The role of evidence, context, and facilitation in an implementation trial : implications for the development of the PARIHS framework. Implementation Science, 8 (28)
- Baranski, Rafal, Allender, Charlotte J., Klimek-Chodacka, Magdalena, 2012. Towards better tasting and more nutritious carrots: Carotenoid and sugar content variation in carrot genetic resources. Food Research International, Vol. 47 (No. 2), pp. 182-187
- Walley, Peter Glen, Teakle, Graham R., Moore, Jonathan D., Allender, Charlotte J., Pink, David A. C., Buchanan-Wollaston, Vicky, Barker, Guy C., 2012. Developing genetic resources for pre-breeding in Brassica oleracea L. : an overview of the UK perspective. Journal of Plant Biotechnology, 39 (1), pp. 62-68
- Baranski, R., Allender, Charlotte J., Kaminska, I., Rzeminska, M. J., 2011. Biodiversity of carrot genetic resources - variation in secondary metabolites. Planta Medica, Vol.77 (No.12), pp. 1379-1379
- Allender, Charlotte J., King , Graham J., 2010. Origins of the amphiploid species Brassica napus L. investigated by chloroplast and nuclear molecular markers. BMC Plant Biology, Vol.10 (Article 54)
- Allainguillaume, J., Harwood, T., Ford, C. S., Cuccato, G., Norris, C., Allender, Charlotte J., Welters, R., King, G. J., Wilkinson, M. J., 2009. Rapeseed cytoplasm gives advantage in wild relatives and complicates genetically modified crop biocontainment. New Phytologist, Vol.183 (No.4), pp. 1201-1211
- Choi, Su Ryun, Teakle, Graham R., Plaha, Prikshit, Kim, Jeong Hee, Allender, Charlotte J., Beynon, Elena, Piao, Zhong Yun, Soengas, Pilar, Han, Tae Ho, King, Graham J., Barker, Guy C., Hand, Paul, Lydiate, Derek J., Batley, Jacqueline, Edwards, David, Koo, Dal Hoe, Bang, Jae Wook, Park, Beom-Seok, Lim, Yong Pyo, 2007. The reference genetic linkage map for the multinational Brassica rapa genome sequencing project. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, Vol.115 (No.6), pp. 777-792
- Collier, Rosemary, Teakle, Graham R., Allender, Charlotte J., 2011. Farming Today. BBC Radio 4
| Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support for a Base Collection for use in Vegetable Research: GRU renewal tender; Defra GC0148 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2014 | 31 Mar 2024 |
| Genebank 1 year extension Linked to Ideate 36622, 60414 and 68870 extension to R.LFCA.3005 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2022 | 31 Mar 2023 |
| VeGIN Tender re-costed budget - link with 57218 that contains the original Tender application | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Feb 2018 | 31 Jan 2023 |
| Genebank 1 year extension Linked to Ideate 36622 and 60414 extension to R.LFCA.3005 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2021 | 31 Mar 2022 |
| Genebank 2 year extension Linked to Ideate 36622 extension to R.LFCA.3005 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2019 | 31 Mar 2021 |
| Improving the characterisation and conservation of umberllifer crop wild relatives and landraces in Europe | Bioversity International | 01 Apr 2017 | 31 Mar 2019 |
| Testing epigenomic approaches to characterise environmental adaptation in crops and related wild species (MLS application for PDRA Sarah Trinder) | Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund | 01 Jun 2017 | 31 May 2018 |
| Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN) extension 2017 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2017 | 31 Mar 2018 |
| Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN) Tender - Sep 2014 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 28 Nov 2014 | 31 Dec 2017 |
| Extension to VeGIN: Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network for leafy and field vegetables CH0101 | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Mar 2014 | 30 Sep 2014 |
| Umbellifiers Working Group Wild Relatives project | Bioversity International | 14 May 2013 | 30 Nov 2013 |
| Developing links in agricultural and horticultural research: scientific exchange between the University of Warwick and Embrapa | British Council | 01 Jul 2012 | 31 Dec 2012 |
| Brassica selection criteria for the identification of the MAAs: relate to the Brassicaoleracea of Iberian collection; Banco Portugus de Germoplasma Vegetal, INRB, I.P,Portugal. | EU | 01 Jun 2011 | 31 May 2012 |
| CORE: Long term maintenance and genetic diversity of F1 hybrids in genetic resources collections using UK brussel sprouts as a model | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2009 | 31 Mar 2012 |
| IF0158 Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network (VeGIN): Per-breeding research to support sustainable farming of carrot and onion | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Apr 2009 | 31 Mar 2012 |
| AEGIS: Assessment of Unique Material in the European Collections of Umbellifer Crops | European Co-operative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources | 01 Mar 2010 | 28 Feb 2011 |
| DEFRA IF0164 (with University of Birmingham) Vegetable Landrace Inventory of England and Wales | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 01 Dec 2008 | 31 Mar 2009 |