Williams lab in 2006
Joe Williams
My research combines population genetic and comparative approaches to the study of flowering plant reproductive evolution. In flowering plants mate recognition is a developmental process that involves physical interactions among up to six distinct organisms (male and female gametophytes and sporophytes, zygotes and endosperms). The outcome of these often cryptic interactions determines the mating system, and hence, the degree of inbreeding or outbreeding present in natural populations. I am currently working in two types of experimental settings:
1) in natural hybrid zones, where the occurrence of a broad array of genotypes maximizes the opportunity for experimental study of present-day evolutionary processes; and
2) in populations of phylogenetically early lineages of flowering plants, where a comparative biological approach can reveal historical patterns of evolutionary developmental change.
Matt Valente (B. S. Auburn, 2004).
M.S., August, 2007
I am utterly fascinated by a wide range of things botanical, including biogeography, genetics, paleo-ecology, evolution, and conservation of rare and endangered species and habitats. My master's thesis is a study of conservation genetics of the rare basal angiosperm,
Schisandra glabra. This vine is found throughout the Southeast USA, but is extremely rare where it occurs, often found as a single patch which may or may not be a single genotype. I am using AFLP markers to determine genotypic diversity in such patches and to assess genetic variation and phylogeographic patterns.
Tatiana Arias (B.S. Universidad de Atioquia, Colombia, 2002)
M.S., May, 2007
My general interest as a botanist is on the evolution of morphological characters in angiosperms. More specifically, I am interested in the role of development in the evolutionary history of basal angiosperm groups and the question of the origin of angiosperms. My present research focuses on the development and evolution of the female gametophyte and the sporophytic tissues (embryo and endosperm) it gives rise to, in Manekia naranjoana (Piperaceae). Manekia (also known as Sarcorhachis ) is a rare neotropical vine, whose embryology has not been studied. I am also working on some aspects of reproductive biology such as post-pollination (pollen tube growth) and early post-fertilization (early embryogenesis) events.
Mackenzie Taylor (B.A., Truman State University, 2005)
Began Ph.D. program at UT in August, 2005
Research Project: "Post-pollination processes and reproductive timing in Cabombaceae (Nymphaeales)"
I am interested in the evolution of reproductive structures in basal angiosperms, especially in how interactions between these structures during development has impacted the diversification of flowering plants. Currently, I am investigating reproductive timing and post-pollination processes in the basal angiosperm family Cabombaceae. This family comprises two water lily genera, Brasenia and Cabomba. I am focusing specifically on the temporal and structural aspects of processes that occur between pollination and fertilization, including pollen germination, pollen tube growth, stigma and ovule receptivity, and fertilization. My goal is to elucidate how these processes interact within reproductive structures to potentially facilitate successful fertilization or alternatively, screen potential mates. My other interests include pollen morphology and development, as well as botanical education.
Mackenzie is funded by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2006-2009).
Andrew Herget (Junior year 2006) has been working as a tech in the lab summer and fall 2006. He will be funded by an NSF-REU in summer of 2007. Andrew is interested in computer science and genetics.
Cyndi Crossini has been working for credit in the lab Spring, summer and fall of 2006. She is interested in plant morphology, and has worked on pollen limitation in Austrobaileya scandens. She apparently loves complex life histories, because she wants to work with red algae! Cyndi will be funded by an NSF-REU in summer of 2007, before she starts graduate school.
Matt Heard (B. S. University of Tennessee, 2004).
Lab tech (2005/2006). Matt came to the lab as an avowed ecologist, but quickly learned how to use molecular genetic tools. He worked on two projects, one involving a mating system study of Austrobaileya and the other a phylogeography study of Betula neoalaskana. Despite his stellar performance as a geneticist, he has now returned to his love of ecology, starting in the M. S. program in Ecology at the University of Georgia in August, 2006.
Kimberly Kennard (B. S. University of Tennessee, 2004)
Lab tech (2004/2005). Kim completed development of a set of microsatellite markers for Austrobaileya. She was so good that she was recruited away from the plant world. Kim started in the Ph.D. program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee in August, 2005.
Shinara Taylor (B. S. University of Tennessee, 2004).
Lab tech (2003-2004). Shinara completed an elaborate study of Betula leaf characters, including stomata, for a study of hybridization and polyploidy in a birch hybrid zone. Shinara graduated with an art degree, but went on to work in Entomology at UT.
Ethan Lockhart and Darrell Anthony (June 2007)
These high school students did a project under Matt Valente's supervision learning how to sequence chloroplast DNA of Schisandra. They came to us from the Math and Science Center and UT Upward Bound program.
Jim Parker, a retired high-school teacher but still an enthusiastic student, spent many hours on the lake pollinating Brasenia flowers in the summer of 2006.
Katherine Smith spent many hours in the field (marsh) pollinating Cabomba in the summer of 2006.
Galen Yacalis worked in the lab during Spring of 2006. He is fascinated with plant anatomy, and learned to section material quite well. He initiated a side project on Joinvilleaceae (Poales) female gametophtye ontogeny. Galen transferred to the University of Texas, Austin in 2006.