A haiku about Arabidopsis arenosa by Jesse Hollister:

 

Polyploids persist

But require more changes

Compensatory

Population genetics, genomics and molecular biology

• Using population genetics, genomics and molecular biology, we seek to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptations to habitat.
• We are beginning to explore mechanisms of the diploidization of meiosis in autotetraploids from both theoretical and empirical angles.
• Ultimately we would like to address how these adaptations contribute to population divergence and speciation.

Environmental sensing and response

• We are also interested in how physiological trade-offs affect the evolution of the genes encoding environmental sensing and response (e.g. the immune system and stress signaling genes), as well as how trade-offs among signaling pathways may affect adaptability.
• We work mostly with plants in the Arabidopsis genus, focusing especially on Arabidopsis arenosa.