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Associate Professor of Plant Biology Director of the Herbarium Ph.D.(University of Texas at Austin)
Department of Plant Biology Plant Biology Department Selected Recent Publications; Publication List; Current Funding; Teaching; Lab Members |
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Research
Plant systematics and the evolution of floral diversity constitute the primary foci of research in my lab. Our ultimate goal is to combine studies of floral specialization at the phylogenetic level and the population level in the same plant group. Our research has focused specifically on the phylogeny of the Polemoniaceae and Lamiaceae, the evolution of pollination systems, patterns of morphological evolution, and evolutionary lability. We combine data from molecular, morphological, and field studies to explore these topics.
One of the ongoing foci of our research is floral lability and phylogenetics in the Polemoniaceae subfamily Cobaeoideae. There are four genera and over 30 species in this primarily tropical group and we are using multiple molecular markers to estimate their evolutionary history. Using a newly developed, phylogenetically based method we have determined that floral morphology is not significantly more labile than vegetative morphology, despite considerable variation in floral features among the species of Cobaea. Ongoing work focuses on the evolution of morphological traits in the entire subfamily. A monograph of Cobaea has been published and one of Cantua is being prepared. This research has resulted in discovery of several species new to science from each genus.
My lab group is also developing a phylogenetic framework for taxonomic studies of the tribe Mentheae of the Lamiaceae. We are using both nuclear and chloroplast DNA regions to show that prior morphological studies of the Lamiaceae are in many ways inadequate, due to the complicated morphological evolution of the group. We have evidence that many genera in this tribe are not monophyletic as currently circumscribed. Taxonomic work is underway in all of these genera.
Finally, my lab group has also contributed to our knowledge of the natural history of rare plants, the lichen flora of Michigan, and we are actively involved in developing ways of integrating herbarium collections into a broader array of research activities.
Monfils, A. K. and L. A. Prather. 2004. The conserved nature and taxonomic utility of pollen grain morphology in Cantua. Grana.
Prather, L. A., O. Alvarez-Fuentes, M. H. Mayfield, and C. J. Ferguson. 2004. The decline of plant collecting in the United States: A threat to the infrastructure of biodiversity studies. Systematic Botany 29: 15-28.
Posto, A. L. and L. A. Prather. 2003. The evolutionary and taxonomic implications of RAPD data on the genetic relationships of Mimulus michiganensis (comb. et stat. nov.: Scrophulariaceae). Systematic Botany 28: 172-178.
Prather, L. A., A. K. Monfils, A. L. Posto, and R. A. Williams. 2002. Monophyly and phylogeny of Monarda (Lamiaceae): Implications of sequence data from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Systematic Botany 27: 127-137.
Prather, L. A., C. J. Ferguson, and R. K. Jansen. 2000. Polemoniaceae phylogeny and classification: Implications of sequence data from the chloroplast gene ndhF. American Journal of Botany 87: 1300-1308.
National Science Foundation, "Computerization of the Lichen Collection at the Michigan State Herbarium" (; Alan Fryday, co-PI)
National Science Foundation, "Systematics of Polemoniaceae Subfamily Cobaeoideae"
US Department of Agriculture, "Genetic mechanisms of adaptation and integration among floral traits in a weed" (Jeffrey Conner, PI; James Hancock, co-PI).
Michigan Agriculture Experiment Station Disciplinary Research Grant, 2001, "Genetic mechanisms of adaptation and integration among floral traits in a weed" (Jeffrey Conner and James Hancock, co-PIs)
PLB 418: Plant Systematics
Current:
Orlando Alvarez-Fuentes (PhD student)
Nate Sammons (PhD student)
Rachel Williams (PhD candidate)
Mike Macal (Undergraduate)
Former postdoc: David Jarrell, Asst. Prof., Mary Washington University
Former PhD Student: Anna Monfils, Postdoc in Triemer Lab, MSU
Former Masters Students: Jessie Keith, Wilmington, DE
Amanda Posto, Lab Technician in Rieseberg Lab, Indiana University
