Research

Conservation Genetics of Imperiled Plants of the Southeastern US

Conradina glabra (Eserman et al. 2024)

In the Conservation Genetics Lab at ABG, one of the main foci is population genetic studies of rare and endangered species. Many of these plants are threatened with extinction if proper management and safeguarding does not occur. Information on genetic diversity and clonality is critical for understanding whether species will be resilient in the face of future pressures such as habitat destruction or climate change. We work closely with state and federal agencies to address questions about species with the most urgent needs.

Evolution of Storage Roots in Convolvulaceae

Storage roots of sweetpotato (left) and Distimake dissectus (right) stained for lignin (pink) (Eserman et al. 2018)

Storage roots are an important adaptation to harsh environmental conditions. Our work has shown that storage roots have evolved numerous times in morning glories. We apply a comparative approach to understand the evolutionary and developmental biology of storage roots. Specifically, we examine root gene expression, morphology, anatomy, and starch content.

Morning Glory Phylogenomics and Classification

Morning glories are a vastly diverse group of flowering plants, comprising about 800 species distributed across the globe. Most are twining vines, but many are shrubs, lianas, and even trees. Morning glory taxonomy is generally incongruent with molecular phylogenetic results; therefore, part of my work involves phylogenetics of morning glories as well as revising species-level taxonomy based on phylogenetic results.

Time-calibrated phylogeny of morning glories (Eserman et al. 2014)

Phylogenomics and Classification of Orchids

The Orchidaceae is one of the largest flowering plant families but also comprises a large percent of the world’s most imperiled species. We have developed a target capture probe set to reliably capture 963 single copy nuclear genes across the Orchidaceae (Eserman et al. 2021). I am now working with collaborators to apply this probe set for both phylogenomics and population genetics.

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