Heather Rowe
Post-Doctoral Fellow

mailing address:
Department of Botany (Rieseberg Lab)
University of British Columbia                                                                       
3529-6270 University Blvd                
Vancouver BC V6K 4C5                                                       
CANADA

phone:  410-929-7788
fax:        604-822-6089

roweheat (at) gmail.com

I am interested in how genetic diversity is patterned by environmental influences, as shown by plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in agricultural and ecological settings. In particular, my recent research has focused on interactions of plants with other organisms, including insects and pathogenic fungi. Plant secondary chemistry plays a crucial role in these relationships. The unique flavors and smells that define our relationship with plants that we rely on for food also function as a plant’s primary means of communication and defense.
Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) provide a unique and exciting system for study of the evolution and genetic control of sesquiterpene lactone diversity. Sesquiterpene lactones are a large class of isoprenoid compounds found at highest frequency and diversity in the plant family Compositae (Asteraceae). These compounds have been of economic interest due to their potential pharmaceutical uses, but are of ecological and evolutionary interest due to their as-yet incompletely described roles in plant defense and development. In particular, studying these biochemical traits in naturally-occuring and laboratory-created hybrid species provides an opportunity to query the role that the generation of novel biochemical profiles may play in the formation and maintenance of species.

 

Research Experience
 

05/09-	Post-Doctoral Fellow, The genetic bases of secondary metabolite diversity in a hybrid species complex; hosted by Dr. Loren Rieseberg, Canada Research Chair in Plant Evolutionary Genomics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC
9/04-4/09	independent research for completion of Ph.D. thesis, Using natural variation to identify mechanisms of interaction between Arabidopsis thaliana and Botrytis cinerea; advised by Dr. Daniel J. Kliebenstein, Associate Professor of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis CA
8/99-8/04	Biological Science Technician, Behavioral and Chemical Ecology of Insect Pests of Stored Agricultural Commodities, under supervision of Dr. Lodewyk P.S. Kuenen, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Fresno CA
3/99-7/99	entomology intern for Palila Restoration Project, under supervision of Peter Oboyski USGS Biological Research Division, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
8/96-12/98	independent research for completion of M.S. thesis, Effects of habitat succession on populations of Formica exsectoides (Forel) in jack pine; advised by Dr. Catherine Bristow, Associate Professor of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI
8/95-4/96	independent research for completion of honor's thesis in Environmental Studies B.A. program, Acclimation of Dreissena polymorpha to increased salinity; advised by Dr. Gordon Godshalk, Professor of Biology, Alfred Univ., Alfred NY
1/96-5/96	assisted Dr. Alan Goldstein, Professor of Biology, Alfred University, in creating site-directed mutants of the gcd gene of E. coli

                      

Publications

Chan, E.K-F., Rowe, H.C., and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2010. The complex genetic architecture of the metabolome. PLoS Genetics. accepted

Rowe, H.C., Walley, J.W., Corwin, J., Chan, E. K-F., Dehesh, K., and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2010. Intraspecific variation in Botrytis cinerea activation of jasmonate-mediated defense in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS Pathogens 6(4): e1000861 (FULL TEXT)

Rowe, H.C. and Kliebenstein, D. J. 2010. All mold is not alike: the importance of intraspecific diversity in necrotrophic plant pathogens. PLoS Pathogens 6(3): e1000759 (FULL TEXT)

Sønderby, I.E., Burow, M., Rowe, H.C., Kliebenstein, D.J., and Halkier, B.A. 2010. A complex interplay of three R2R3 MYB transcription factors determinates the profile of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 109.149286 (PUBMED)

Chan, E.K-F., Rowe, H.C., and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2009. Understanding the evolution of defense metabolites in Arabidopsis thaliana using genome-wide association mapping. Genetics. 185(3). (ABSTRACT)

Kliebenstein, D.J. and Rowe, H.C. 2009. Perspective: Anti-Rust Antitrust. Science 323:1301-2. (PUBMED)

Walley, J. W., Rowe, H.C., Xiao, Y., Chehab, E.W., Kliebenstein, D. J., Wagner, D. and Dehesh, K. 2008. The chromatin remodeler SPLAYED regulates specific stress signaling pathways. PLoS Pathogens 4: e1000237. (FULL TEXT)

Rowe, H.C. and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2008. Complex genetics control natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana resistance to Botrytis cinerea. Genetics 180: 2237-2250. (ABSTRACT)

Rowe, H.C.*, Hansen, B.G.*, Halkier, B.A., and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2008. Biochemical networks and epistasis shape the plant metabolome. Plant Cell. 20, 1199-1216. *co-first authors (FULL TEXT)

Kliebenstein, D.J. and Rowe, H.C. 2008. Ecological costs of biotrophic versus necrotrophic pathogen resistance, the hypersensitive response and signal transduction. Plant Science 174: 551-556. (FULL TEXT)

Chehab, E.W., Kaspi, R., Savchenko, T., Rowe, H., Negre-Zakharov, F., Kliebenstein, D., and Dehesh, K. 2008. Distinct roles of jasmonates and aldehydes in plant-defense responses. PLoS ONE 3: e1904. (FULL TEXT)

Rowe, H.C. and Kliebenstein, D.J. 2007. Elevated genetic variation within virulence associated Botrytis cinerea polygalacturonase loci. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 20: 1126-1137. (PUBMED)

Wentzell, A.M.*, Rowe, H.C*, Hansen, B.G., Ticconi, C., Halkier, B.A., and D.J. Kliebenstein. 2007. Linking metabolic QTL with network and cis-eQTL controlling biosynthetic pathways. PLoS Genetics 3: e162. *co-first authors.  (FULL TEXT)

Kliebenstein, D.J., Rowe, H.C. and Denby, K.J. 2005. Secondary metabolites influence Arabidopsis/Botrytis interactions: variation in host production and pathogen susceptibility. Plant Journal 44: 25-36. (PUBMED)

Kuenen, L.P.S., Bentley, W., Rowe, H.C. and Ribeiro, B. 2008. Bait formulations and longevity of navel orangeworm egg traps tested. California Agriculture 62: 36-39. (FULL TEXT)

Kuenen, L.P. and Rowe, H.C. 2006 Cowpea weevil flights to a point source of female sex pheromone: analysis of flight tracks at three wind speeds. Physiological Entomology. 31: 103-109.  (FULL TEXT)

Rowe, H.C. and Bristow, C.M. 2000. Sex ratio and sexual dimorphism in Formica exsectoides, the Allegheny mound ant. The Great Lakes Entomologist 32: 207-218.