My research focuses on the genetic basis of evolution in plants: how is the genetic variation that we find within a species shaped by natural selection, population history, and other evolutionary forces? One way that I look at this question is by using crop domestication as a model for rapid evolutionary change. The wealth of genetic and genomic information available for crops makes them useful for studying the molecular evolution of genes in response to selection and other forces. In my lab we also study the evolutionary genetics of wild plant species. Topics of interest include the genetic basis of adaptive variation, the forces affecting genome-wide patterns of linkage disequilibrium, and phylogeography.

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Most rice varieties contain the starch amylose, which stains black with iodine (left), while glutinous rice (right) lacks this starch. A single nucleotide mutation at the Waxy gene during the domestication of rice has led to the formation of the glutinous phenotype. This mutation arose initially in Southeast Asia, where glutinous rice remains an important staple food.