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What we do
Our research explores plant diversity across biological scales. We integrate plant anatomy, developmental biology, molecular biology, phylogenetics, and ecology to place plant traits within an evolutionary and environmental context (Fig. 1). Using fieldwork, wet-lab and collection-based approaches, and computational biology, we link phenotypic variation to its genetic basis to understand how plants have modified their growth and development across time and space.
How do plants grow thick?
This is one of the central questions in the lab. We study plant vascular biology, which governs radial growth and much of plant biomass (Fig. 2).
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In particular, we investigate vascular variants—alternative patterns of vascular development found in both wild and cultivated plants. Because these developmental systems evolved repeatedly during the evolution of flowering plants, they provide a powerful natural system for uncovering the rules of plant development while connecting fundamental biology with applied research. Check the Vascular Biology page for more.
Fig. 1. Our research intgrates multiples disciplines and approaches.
Fig. 2. Most of a plant's biomass is stored in vascular tissues.
Applying New Technologies to Investigate Plant Vascular Biology
To further our understanding of plant structure, we pioneered the use of Laser Ablation Tomography (LATscan) in woody plants (Cunha Neto et al., 2023; New Phytol.). In this study, we applied LATscan to multiple woody vine species, including some with vascular variants.
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