HUH Seminar Series - Fay-Wei Li

Date: 

Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, HUH Seminar Room 125

Fay-Wei Li, Assistant Professor
Boyce Thompson Institute
Cornell University

Topic: Evolutionary genomics of seed-free plants: ferns, Isoetes, and hornworts

Abstract:
Since the first complete plant genome from Arabidopsis thaliana was announced in 2000, reference genomes for all other major green lineages have been published, except for a few orphan clades such as ferns, quillworts (Isoetes), and hornworts. Here I will present the assemblies and analyses of two first fern genomes—Azolla filiculoides and Salvinia cucullata. Azolla coexists in a unique symbiosis with N2-fixing cyanobacteria, and I will discuss the novel genomic insights on such symbiotic interaction. Hornworts similarly engage symbioses with cyanobacteria, and our genome and transcriptome sequencing of Anthoceros spp will allow us to examine patterns of convergent evolution. Finally, I will report our progress on sequencing an Isoetes genome, and our analyses of gene expression network related to Isoetes’ unique crassulacean acid metabolism.

Host Lab: Davis