Joel S. Shore PhD (Toronto) E-mail: shore@yorku.ca Research Areas: Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology, Genetics, Plant Biology |
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Research in my lab currently focuses on the evolution of plant breeding systems although we have carried out studies of plant population genetics and plant/butterfly interactions. We have continued to study the genetics and evolution of breeding systems in a largely Neotropical plant family, the Turneraceae, and especially in the genus Turnera. A majority of species in the genus are distylous and strongly self-incompatible, while other species are self-compatible often having anthers and stigmas in close proximity, leading to high rates of self-fertilization. We have been working towards a molecular genetic dissection of the distyly locus in Turnera species. We have now cloned, sequenced and identified two genes that appear to be tightly associated with the short-styled morph. One protein occurs only in the styles of short-styled plants, while the second protein is restricted to pollen of the short-styled plants. We are currently mapping the location of the genes, to determine if they map to the distyly locus and are using immunocytochemistry to localize the proteins in plants tissues. Western blots are being used to test the hypothesis that homostylous breeding systems have arisen through recombination in a putative supergene that controls distyly.
Selected Publications
Schappert, P.J. and J.S. Shore. 2000. Cyanogenesis in Turnera ulmifolia L. (Turneraceae). II. Developmental expression, heritability and cost of cyanogenesis. Evolutionary Ecology Research 2: 337-352.
Tamari, F., A. Athanasiou and J.S. Shore. 2001. Pollen tube growth and inhibition indistylous and homostylous Turnera and Piriqueta (Turneraceae). Canadian Journal of Botany. 79: 578-591.
Athanasiou, A., D. Khosravi, F. Tamari, and J.S. Shore. 2003. Characterization and localization of short-specific polygalacturonase in distylous Turnera subulata (Turneraceae). American Journal of Botany 90: 675-682.
Pither, R., J.S. Shore and M. Kellman. 2003. The genetic diversity of the tropical tree species, Terminalia amazonia (Combretaceae) in naturally fragmented and isolated populations. Heredity: in press.
