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From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.
Recent view (20 September 2023) of new Botany Research Greenhouse range under construction at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. The greenhouse structure is complete with ongoing work on utilities and the headhouse. The expected completion date is January 2024. (photo by K. Wurdack)
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From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany, the United States Botanic Garden, and Smithsonian Gardens will hold the 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” on 17 May 2024. The focus of the Symposium will be on conservation horticulture, the application of the technical knowledge and practical expertise of growing plants (horticulture) for the advancement of plant conservation. Conservation horticulture is critical in our time of rapid global change if we are to ensure the survival of imperiled plant species. Botanic gardens and conservation organizations around the world maintain diverse and wild-collected ex situ plant collections, care for plants of conservation concern in situ, provide plants for population augmentation and repopulation, and supporting conservation education and advocacy. Many plants that are extinct or facing extinction in the wild persist in cultivation through such efforts. The 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium will explore these topics and current research on the nexus of plant conservation and horticulture.
The Symposium will be a hybrid event, with invited speakers giving afternoon presentations for in-person and virtual guests in Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History, and a poster session and evening reception for in-person guests in the Conservatory of the U.S. Botanic Garden.
In addition, the 21st José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany will be awarded at the Symposium to an international scholar who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award is named in honor of Dr. José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist who spent many years working in the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian and devoted his career to plant exploration and taxonomy in tropical South America.
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From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.
-Contributions from Gary Krupnick, Laurence Dorr, Erika Gardner, Rose Gulledge, Alice Tangerini, Jun Wen, Kenneth Wurdack, and Robert Costello.
While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in quiet hallways and empty offices, the return to the office has led to in-person activity. The summer months are a conundrum—some staff travel to international conferences and field expeditions, but new voices fill the herbarium as a new crop of interns and volunteers make their presence known. The summer of 2023 was no exception, with a handful of eager individuals learning and contributing to science in the Department of Botany. Here we present an overview of the fresh faces that visited this summer for training and research.
The Natural History Research Experiences (NHRE) is a 10-week summer research internship program for undergraduates at the National Museum of Natural History funded by the National Science Foundation. From May 30 to August 4, Botany hosted two NHRE interns, Jillian Cieslik and Luke Sparreo. NHRE interns work closely with scientific mentors on independent research projects. Project results were presented at a poster session for NMNH staff, as well as during a public outreach day in the exhibit halls, and the results are being prepared for publication.
Kenneth Wurdack and Larry Dorr mentored Jillian Cieslik, a senior at Ball State University (Indiana) with interests in plant microbiology and genetics. Her project, “Establishing phylogenetic relationships and distinctions of the North American Lindera,” was to sort out a complex of native spice bushes using molecular techniques. She examined relationships among North American spicebushes (three species of Lindera and two species of Litsea; Lauraceae), with a special emphasis on species delimitation in the bog spicebush, Lindera subcoriacea, a rare southeastern USA wetland species, which has been considered questionably distinct from the widespread Lindera benzoin. Plastid genomes were assembled, and several nuclear genes were sequenced that resolved relationships of these species and confirmed that L. subcoriacea should be treated as a distinct species. Cieslik plans to continue her focus on Botany and attend graduate school next year.
Jun Wen, Greg Stull, and Alicia Talavera hosted NHRE intern Luke Sparreo from Connecticut College. Sparreo worked on the project “Discovering a new genus of the grape family Vitaceae and exploring tropical-temperate transition in plants.” This project focused on a potential new plant genus, Neoampelocissus, and its relationship with other genera in the grape plant family, Vitaceae. The phylogenomic results from the study show that the Neoampelocissus group is sister to the grape genus Vitis rather than the genus Ampelocissus, where the small group of c. six species of Neotropical Ampelocissus species have been placed. The Neoampelocissus group is found in tropical regions of Central America, while most species of its likely sister group, Vitis, occur in the north temperate regions. DNAs of Neoampelocissus species from silica gel preserved samples and herbarium specimens were sequenced using the target enrichment approach, targeting 1013 nuclear genes. The newly generated sequence data were compared with previously analyzed species of the grape family to place the new genus into a greater phylogeny. Seeds of Neoampelocissus and its close allies were imaged microscopically and measured for 14 diagnostic characteristics to add a morphological component to the project. The results support a New World origin for the Neoampelocissus – Vitis group, involving a tropical-temperate transition for the temperate radiations of the grape genus Vitis. Sparreo will apply for graduate school in Botany soon.
Continue reading "Summer interns in botany gain mentor-guided experience" »
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