Research and Publications 

 

  1. Publications

  2. •Guisinger M. M., T. W. Chumley, J. V. Kuehl, J. L. Boore, and R. K. Jansen. Hey, why the long branch? Rates and patterns of plastid genome evolution in the grasses. Molecular Biology and Evolution. in review.

  3. •Cai Z., M. Guisinger, H. Kim, E. Ruck, J. C. Blazier, V. McMurtry, J. V. Kuehl, J, Boore, and R. K. Jansen. Extensive reorganization of the plastid genome of Trifolium subterraneum (Fabaceae) is associated with numerous repeated sequences and novel DNA insertions. Journal of Molecular Evolution. available online.

  4. •Guisinger M. M., J. L. Boore, J. V. Kuehl, and R. K. Jansen. 2008. Genome-wide analyses of Geraniaceae plastid DNA reveal unprecedented patterns of increased nucleotide substitutions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105(47): 18424-18429.

  5. •Steele P. R., M. Guisinger-Bellian, C. R. Linder, and R. K. Jansen. 2008. Phylogenetic utility of 141 low-copy nuclear regions in taxa at different taxonomic levels in two distantly related families of rosids. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48(3): 1013-1026.

  6. •Jansen R. K., Z. Cai, L. A. Raubeson, H. Daniell, C. W. dePamphillis, J. Leebens-Mack, K. F. Müller, M. Guisinger-Bellian, R. C. Haberle, A. K. Hansen, T. W. Chumley, S. Lee, R. Peery, J. McNeal, J. V. Kuehl, and J. L. Boore. 2007. Analysis of 81 genes from 64 plastid genomes resolves relationships in angiosperms and identifies genome-scale evolutionary patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104(49): 19369-19374.

  7. •Guisinger M. M. and J. Z. Kiss. 1999. The influence of microgravity and spaceflight on columella cell ultrastructure in starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis. The American Journal of Botany 86(10): 1357-1366.

  8. •Kiss J. Z., R. E. Edelmann, M. M. Guisinger, W. J. Katembe, and P.C. Wood. 1999. Graviperception studies in Biorack with wild-type and starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis. In Biorack on Spacehab, 205-219, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

  9. •Kiss J. Z., M. M. Guisinger, and A. J. Miller. 1998. What is the threshold amount of starch necessary for full gravitropic sensitivity? Advances in Space Research 21: 1197-1202.

  10. •Kiss J. Z., M. M. Guisinger, A. J. Miller, and K. S. Stackhouse. 1997. Reduced gravitropism in hypocotyls of starch-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis. Plant and Cell Physiology 38(5): 518-525.

  1. Research

  2. It is now widely accepted that chloroplasts arose from endosymbiosis between a nonphotosynthetic, mitochondria-containing eukaryotic host and a photosynthetic cyanobacterium. The genomes of chloroplasts (cpDNA) are greatly reduced relative to their cyanobacterial sisters; thousands of genes have been either lost or transferred to the nuclear genome. Rapid parallel losses in distantly related species indicates that strong purifying selection, i.e. selection that reduces genetic diversity, acts on cpDNA. Comparison among the approximately 115 land plant cpDNAs available on GenBank shows that genome size, gene content, gene order, and rates of nucleotide substitutions particularly in protein-coding regions are highly conserved. I am interested in the selective pressures that drive chloroplast genome evolution, the mechanisms driving differential rates of molecular evolution, the evolution of gene expression in chloroplasts, the mechanisms of genomic change and rearrangement, and land plant relationships.