The Environmental & Plant Biology Colloquium Series presents Dr. Joshua Banta on “Integrative Multi-Level Approach to Plant Ecological Genomics” on Friday, March 13, at 11:50 a.m. in Porter 104.
Dr. Joshua Banta
Banta is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Tyler.
Abstract: Plants are particularly interesting study organisms for understanding the causes and consequences of phenotypic variation in the wild because they are sessile, and this makes the connection between habitat and phenotype pronounced. I study natural variation in plant phenotypes, such as flowering time, tolerance to apical meristem damage, and root morphology, with the goal of understanding the networks of genes that influence the patterns of phenotypic variation in the wild and the environmental context that shapes these phenotypes and interacts with these genetic networks. We have identified several polymorphic genes associated with phenotypic variation, and in several instances we have also confirmed these associations using knockout mutants and other approaches. We have also studied the ecological context of these genes and the phenotypes they produce. Overall my work seeks to understand plant phenotypes as the product of the natural environment and the genetic makeup of the organisms, and how these factors interact, to create the fullest picture of why these phenotypes vary and what this variation means.
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