Other projects
One-offs and side projects I'm involved in.
Single nuclei and spatial RNA sequencing of desiccation tolerant plants
My work with Portulaca has led us to apply single nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNAseq) to several of systems in the VanBuren Lab at Michigan State University. We are currently working on pairing snRNAseq with spatial RNA sequencing at single cell resolution to understand how diverse cell types prepare for and complete desiccation.
Funding:
- Michigan State University Plant Resilience Institute Seed Grant: Defining transcriptional cell states in desiccation tolerant plants with spatial RNAseq (2026 – 2027)
- Collaborators: Dr. Robert VanBuren (MSU), Jenny Schuster (MSU)
No linked publications yet.
CAM diversity and evolution
The most fantastic aspect of Crassulacean acid metabolism is its diversity: it’s found all across vascular plants from rainforest canopies to deserts to underwater habitats and, while the core gene network and metabolism are identical across all CAM plants, the way they use CAM varies immensely. CAM can be used constitutively or facultatively — typically in response to stress — and can account for anywhere from the majority of a plant’s carbon budget to a vanishingly small fraction that is captured from respired CO2. This diversity makes CAM an ideal system for studying convergent evolution, complex trait assembly, and the evolution of stress responses — not just in plants, but across life. I am always looking for new and unusual plants that use CAM. Currently, I am collaborating on CAM-related projects led by Daniel Mok (MSU) and Dr. Robert VanBuren (MSU) in leafless orchids, geophytic monocots, and carnivorous plants.
Related publications: (Gilman et al., 2023) (Sage et al., 2023)