Anya Penly

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Biology Major

Research Interest: Evolution of Panicoideae Grasses using knotted1 and ndhF

My interest is in the monophyletic "Bristle Grass" clade of grasses which are characterized by having sterile branches (bristles) on their inflorescence. The clade includes about 310 species from 25 genera, like Cenchrus (sand burr), Pennisetum (pearl millet), and Setaria (foxtail millet). I am comparing sequence data from two different genes, knotted1 and ndhF. Knotted1 is a nuclear homeobox gene, that functions as a transcription factor. NdhF is a chloroplast gene that codes for NADH, a cofactor involved in electron transport.

A few of the questions I am trying to answer are: How much variation is there within the bristle clade? Can we align the different genera after the multiple mutations over time? If we can align them, what is the degree of similarity between the different species within the clade?

Current Lab Activity:

Thirty four species from 10 genera have been sequenced using knotted1 and phylogenic trees have been constructed. This work has so far confirmed the close relationship between Pennisetum and Cenchrus, but has surprisingly suggested that Setaria is paraphyletic. Five more species are currently being sequenced for knotted1 and twenty four species for ndhF. Plant material is currently growing in the greenhouse for Southern blots we will use to confirm the putative polyploidy suggested by the knotted1 phylogeny .