I’m an NSF GRFP Fellow and Auburn PhD student at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.
I harness cutting-edge sequencing and computational techniques to build, visualize, and compare the genomes of diverse plants to unlock the secrets of their reproductive biology.
I study the Myricaceae family and building the genome of the dioecious species Morella cerifera and characterizing its sex chromosomes.
The ~50 globally distributed Morella species offer an excellent system for exploring the evolution of sex chromosomes across a genus. This is due to their small genomes, diploidy, and the availability of monoecious mutants for comparative study.
I am fascinated by the role of repetitive elements in the emergence and maintenance of regions of low recombination, such as centromeres and sex-determining regions.
As sequencing technology improves, I believe we will continue to see the incredible impact that these elements play in genome evolution, diversity, and functionality.
The entire Myricaceae family forms a symbiotic relationship with Frankia bacteria, a diazotroph that allows these plants to engage in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.
The genetic basis of this symbiosis has not been well-investigated in non-leguminous plants. We aim to explore this trait in Morella cerifera after completing the genome.