Research in the lab
How do galling insects choose host plants?
We recently started a new project to explore variation in galling insects of valley oaks. We are dovetailing onto the existing provenance trial, and collaborating with Dr. Dan Edwards, of the chemistry department at Chico State, to test several hypotheses about defense against these fascinating herbivores.
What prevents hybridization between closely related plants?
A regional endemic monkeyflower, Mimulus glaucescens, co-occurs and co-flowers with the widespread M. guttatus, and they freely hybridize in the greenhouse. Hybridization is apparently rare in nature, however. Two former MS students (Nicole and JP) and I have measured multiple potential reproductive barriers, and found they block only about 70% of potential gene flow between species. Are there other barriers yet unmeasured? Is hybridization more common than previously suspected? Stay tuned for more discoveries!
Does serpentine soil lead to local adaptation?
Our regional endemic Mimulus glaucescens occurs on and off of serpentine soils. A recent Plant Biology (BIOL 369) class performed a greenhouse-based reciprocal transplant experiment with four populations to test for population divergence in performance on different soil sources. Only weak evidence for divergence was found in this pilot study, although interesting trends suggest more attention is needed!
