My work in the Smith lab at CU Boulder is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of flower color evolution. One of the primary biochemical pathways responsible for the production of colorful pigments is the anthocyanin pathway. Mutations to enzymes in this pathway have been repeatedly observed to be responsible...
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The quest for Fabianas
Field adventures in Argentina
I recently had the amazing opportunity to take a field trip to Argentina searching for several species of Solanaceae. This trip was part of an NSF-funded project in the Smith lab that aims to characterize the evolution of floral coloration in the Pentuieae sub-family of Solanaceae.
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Good times at SICB 2019 in Tampa
I just got back to Colorado yesterday from a trip to present some of my postdoctoral research at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative biology. The other talks I attended were excellent and the diversity of topics on display was delightful! Just prior to the meeting...
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Observing visitors to mountain ball cactus
Take care when cloning the pTRV2 vector for Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS)!
I recently began cloning constructs to perform VIGS experiments on flowering plants. I ordered the pTRV2-MCS vector from the Arabidospsis biological resource center ABRC which is a vector that supports cloning a target fragment into a modified Tobacco Rattle Virus. I based the design of my cloning primers on the...
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