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Research | Teaching | Team | Publications
e-mail:swgraham
@mail.ubc.ca
office phone: (604) 822-4816
lab phone: (604) 822-3600
Associate Professor, Dept. of Botany, and UBC Botanical
Garden and Centre for Plant Research
B.Sc. Genetics (1989), St. Andrews;
Ph.D. Botany (1997), University of Toronto;
Postdoctoral Fellow (1996-1998), University of Washington;
Assistant Professor of Biology (1999-2003), University of
Alberta. |
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Research Interests:
My lab group works on a broad variety of problems in plant
systematics and evolution. Research goals include inference
of the major details of the land-plant portion of the Tree
of Life, application of reliable phylogenies to evolutionary
questions, and characterization of biodiversity in understudied
lineages. I am also interested in the development and application
of analytical advances to difficult problems in plant systematics.
1) Deep plant phylogeny.
The relationships of the earliest diverging branches of
plant phylogeny are known only in fragmentary form. A major
focus is to infer the broad "backbone" of plant
phylogeny. We are applying regions of the plastid and nuclear
genomes that have been previously unexplored (or underutilized)
for plant molecular systematic work, using more data per
taxon than is commonly used in molecular systematic studies
(e.g., Graham & Olmstead, 2000). Our current focus is
on higher-order relationships of the monocots, basal angiosperms,
cycads (Rai et al., 2003), conifers, seed plants, pteridophytes,
and bryophytes.
2) Evolutionary biodiversity.
We have a number of molecular systematic, taxonomic and
population genetic studies on taxa of particular interest.
A subset of studies examine understudied, early-diverging
lineages (e.g., Acorus, the probable sister group of all
other monocots). My lab group is also using phylogenies
as a framework for studying various evolutionary questions
(e.g., the origin of heterostyly), and to address unsolved
phylogenetic mysteries.
3) Comparative plastid genomics.
The regions we use for phylogenetic work provide insights
into the molecular evolution of the plastid genome. We have
characterized multiple classes of plastid genome structural
mutations (e.g., Graham et al., 2000, McPherson et al, 2004)
that provide new insights into both process (mutational
dynamics), and pattern (by acting as phylogenetic markers).
Ongoing comparative studies include an examination of plastid
genome dissolution in the mycoheterotrophic monocots.
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Courses
Taught:
Biology
210: Biology of Vascular Plants
Biology 525: Phylogenetics Workshop. To be offered in June,
2009
Botany 501: Seminar Studies in Botany
Botany 505B: Field Course in BC Plant Diversity
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Research
Team:
Vivienne Lam (MSc student)
Will Iles (PhD student)
Ying Chang (PhD student)
Diana Percy (post doctoral fellow)
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Selected
Publications:
*Fazekas, A.J., K.S. Burgess, P.R. Kesanakurti, *S.W.
Graham, S.G. Newmaster, B.C. Husband, D.M. Percy, M. Hajibabaei
and S.C.H. Barrett. 2008. Multiple multilocus DNA barcodes
from the plastid genome discriminate plant species equally
well. PLoS ONE 2:e2802. (*Equal contributions.)
Saarela, J.M., P.J. Prentis, H.S. Rai and S.W. Graham.
2008. Phylogenetic relationships in the monocot order Commelinales,
with a focus on Philydraceae. Botany (formerly Can.J. Botany)
86:719-731
Rai, H.S., P. A. Reeves, R. Peakall, R.G. Olmstead and
S.W. Graham. 2008. Inference of higher-order conifer relationships
from a multi-locus plastid data set. Botany 86:658-669
Zgurski, J.M., H.S. Rai, Q.M. Fai, D.J. Bogler, J. Francisco-Ortega
and S.W. Graham. 2008. How well do we understand the overall
backbone of cycad phylogeny? New insights from a large,
multigene plastid data set. Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution 27:1232-1237.
*Case A.L., *S.W. Graham, T.D. Macfarlane and S.C.H. Barrett.
2008. A phylogenetic study of transitions in sexual system
in Australasian Wurmbea (Colchicaceae). International Journal
of Plant Sciences 169:141-156. (*Equal contributions.)
Cantino P.D., J.A. Doyle, S.W. Graham, W.S. Judd, R.G.
Olmstead, D.E. Soltis, P.S. Soltis and M.J. Donoghue. 2007.
Towards a phylogenetic nomenclature of Tracheophyta. Taxon
56:822-846 (an expanded online version of this article at
Taxon is 44 pages long).
Saarela J.M., H.S. Rai, J.A. Doyle, P.K. Endress, S. Mathews,
A.D. Marchant, B.G. Briggs and S.W. Graham. 2007. Hydatellaceae
identified as a new branch near the base of the angiosperm
phylogenetic tree. Nature 446:312-315.
Chang Y., W.K. Chang, S.W. Graham and B.C. Tan. 2006.
Molecular evidence for the systematic positions of two enigmatic
mosses: Pterogonidium pulchellum (Sematophyllaceae, Musci)
and Piloecium pseudorufescens (Myuriaceae, Musci). Canadian
Journal of Botany 84:501-507.
Graham S.W., J.M. Zgurski, M.A. McPherson, D.M. Cherniawsky,
J.M. Saarela, E.F.C. Horne,S.Y. Smith, W.A. Wong, H.E. O’Brien,
V.L. Biron, J.C. Pires, R.G. Olmstead, M.W. Chase and H.S.
Rai. 2006. Robust inference of monocot deep phylogeny using
an expanded multigene plastid data set. In J.T. Columbus,
E.A. Friar, J.M. Porter, L.M. Prince and M.G. Simpson [eds.],
Monocots: comparative biology and evolution (excluding Poales).
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California,
USA, pages 3–21.
Givnish T.J., J.C. Pires, S.W. Graham, M.A. McPherson,
L.M. Prince, T.B. Patterson, H.S. Rai, E.H. Roalson, T.M.
Evans, W.J. Hahn, K.C Millam, A.W. Meerow, M. Molvray, P.J.
Kores, H.E. O'Brien, J.C. Hall, W.J. Kress and K.J. Sytsma.
2005. Repeated evolution of net venation and fleshy fruits
among monocots in shaded habitats confirms a priori predictions:
evidence from an ndhF phylogeny. Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences 272:1481-1490
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