✨ We are looking for a research technician on a recently funded project on plant-microbiome symbiosis! https://wei-lab.org/join-the-lab/

🎉 Grant funded from the Board of Regents — Stay tuned!

🎉 Some good news will come from NSF – Stay tuned!

🎉 Previous lab member, Elizabeth Esser, received NSF GRFP honorable mention!

🎉 Previous lab member, Jessica LaBella, received an NSF GRFP!

✨ New preprint: Environments and host genetics influence the geographic distribution of plant microbiome structure. http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.20.533563

✨ New preprint: Environments and host genetics influence the geographic distribution of plant microbiome structure. http://doi.org/10.1101/2023.03.20.533563

🎉 New paper accepted by Journal of Ecology. Does competitive asymmetry confer polyploid advantage under changing environments? https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14100

Maris presents poster: Decipher the genetic relatedness of crabapples 🍎🧬

Some field sites require special ways to reach. Jess, Maris, Zhijun, and Robin (high school teacher) led field collection of duckweeds.

Teacher in Residence program starts! Robyn, a biology teacher from Riverside High School, is working with us on developing Plant Genetics curriculum using duckweeds and strawberries.

Welcome to the lab👩‍🔬, Olivia! Olivia is a junior at Kenston High School. Olivia is interested in environmental science and aims to learn diverse skills in the lab.

Welcome to the lab👩‍🔬, Cordelia! Cordelia is an undergraduate majoring in biochemistry at Washington University. Cordelia is interested in microbiomes and genetics in the lab.

Mimulus germinated one week after sowing. Excited about the Mimulus phylosymbiosis project!

Year 3: Malus flower microbiome sampling at both Holden and Secrest Arboretum.

🎉 New paper at Nature Communications: The pollen virome of wild plants and their ecological drivers. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28143-9

✨ A new award from BGCI (https://www.bgci.org/) for supporting student conservation internship on crabapples 🍎🦠🧬.

🎉 New paper at Horticulture Research: bidirectional relationships between floral VOCs and floral microbiomes 🌸🦠 https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhab005

✨ New preprint: Competitive asymmetry between 🧬🧬 and 🧬🧬🧬🧬 under environmental stress💧. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.1111.1108.467667

🎉 Our Nature paper is out: https://rdcu.be/cxoEL. Press release at EurekAlert! AAAS: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/927886.

Pilot field work of plant–pollinator interactions with Dr. Rainee Kaczorowski and Jess at Holden Arboretum, the best place for 🌸🐝 research

✨Lab fun trip at the Stebbins Gulch: https://holdenfg.org/attractions/holden-arboretum/stebbins-gulch/

Jess presents poster for her Norweb Fellowship: Selection for disease resistance drives leaf microbiome assembly in crabapples 🍎 🦠!

Elizabeth presents poster for her internship: Large genomes 🧬 confer competitive asymmetry under nanoparticle stress!

Excited to work with Green Corps high school interns on crabapple collections🍎 at Holden using iNaturalist!

Urban Farm study: how managements affect leaf and root microbiomes 🍓. Great thanks to Bill Patterson, the owner of Patterson Fruit Farm!

Collecting wild strawberries🍓 for experiments at Holden. These wild 🍓 are yummy. Jess and Elizabeth ate so many in the field!

Wild strawberry🍓 survey at Holden with Jess and Elizabeth! Many polyploid🧬🧬🧬🧬 populations. Some with polyploids and diploids🧬🧬 coexisting.

Duckweeds survey at Holden with Jess and Elizabeth! Half of the ponds with 3 species coexisting: Spirodela, Lemna, Woffia

Plant care day: trim hundreds of 🌱 in the greenhouse by Maris and Jess. 🌱 ✨✨✨

Measuring leaf traits using microbalance for experiment: plant–microbiome interactions 🌱–🦠 under environmental stress.

Welcome to the lab👩‍🔬, Elizabeth! Elizabeth is interested in genetics and ecology. She works on how genome duplication🧬🧬 affects species interactions 🌱–🌱 under stress.

Welcome to the lab👩‍🔬, Maris! Maris aims to become a forensic biologist solving crimes. She plans to learn 🧬 genotyping and sequencing in our lab.

Year 2 field work: flowering phenology 🌸🗓 advanced by 2 weeks!
308 trees, 77 genotypes, flower microbiome collection 🍎 🌸🦠 is done in 2 days.

First time driving a golf cart for field work! We are measuring flower color🌸using digital photography📷 in crabapples🍎

A fun hunt for wild strawberries🍓at Holden Arboretum today. Some octoploid🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬🧬🍓are already flowering🌸(April 20)!

We are transferring thousands of sterile plants🌱 into culture bags to sleep in ❄️ and wait for experiments🧫🦠🧬

🎉 Paper published in Oecologia: Diversity and composition of pollen loads carried by pollinators🐝are primarily driven by insect traits, not floral🌸community characteristics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04911-0

✨ New paper submitted: how plant mutualistic and antagonistic interactions at the rhizosphere and phyllosphere influence bidirectional relationships between floral VOCs and floral microbiome 🌸🦠

😎 Crazy apparatus for measuring 🍓 leaf hydraulics💧 by Dr. Randy Long for a collaborative project with the Stuble Lab and Wei Lab at Holden.

🎉 Paper accepted by Molecular Ecology: Pollinators🐝 mediate floral🌸 microbial diversity and network🦠 under agrochemical disturbance. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15890

🎉 Jessica was awarded a Corliss Knapp Engle Scholarship in Horticulture from the Garden Club of America to study Malus leaf microbiome 🍎🦠🧬🧫

We might be too successful with tissue culture and micropropagation: thousands of sterile plants 🌱 🧪

Plant–microbiome experiment updates: 🌱 growing fast

Plant–pollinator interactions 🐝 🦋 in Malus 🍎 authored with lab members Miyauna Incarnato and Evelyn Kaufman for the International Ornamental Crabapple Society journal!

Leaf fungal microbiome🦠 in Malus 🍎 authored with lab members Jessica LaBella and Evelyn Kaufman for the International Ornamental Crabapple Society journal!

Paid Summer Research Internships with us 🌱🌺 🍓🍎 🦠 🧬🧫 📊. Apply by Feb 1. 🗓
https://holdenarb.org/research/internships-and-volunteer-opportunities/

New experiment examining plant–microbiome (🌱 – 🦠) interactions.

New preprint from the lab: Pollinators 🐝 mediate floral 🌸 microbial diversity and network 🦠 under agrochemical disturbance

Continued work on micropropagation. These sterile plants 🌱 are happy!