Laboratory Research

Laboratory Research encompasses the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics, the Genomics Program, Climate Solutions, and Structural Botany. Highly advanced facilities support research by Garden scientists, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, visiting scientists, technical staff, and interns. Laboratory research complements traditional field, herbarium, and literature research about plants and allows for critical and exhaustive investigation, experimentation, and discovery.

Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics

The Cullman Program focuses plant molecular research on the global scientific effort to assemble the evolutionary tree of life (family tree) for all plants on Earth, past and present. Assembling the tree of life requires a very close understanding of the relationships of specific plants to each other. The expertise of the Cullman Curators is spread across the plant kingdom, from the earliest branches of the green algae and land plants, through the gymnosperms, to the major branches of the flowering plants. To elucidate the evolutionary placement of fossil species on the tree of life, the work of the Cullman Program intersects with that of the Structural Botany laboratory. In partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, the Cullman Program looks at plant-animal interactions at the level of the molecule. On the applied side, the Program focuses effort on using DNA barcodes as a species identity-tag.

Genomics Program

The Genomics Program focuses on exploring and understanding the genes responsible for evolutionary innovations—such as origin of the leaf or fleshiness in fruits—seen on the plant portion of the tree of life (family tree). It also looks at how genetic diversity within plant populations is being affected by human interventions such as climate change and forest fragmentation. In combination with the Structural Botany laboratory, the Genomics Program is leading development of the Plant Ontology, a common-language database for facilitating communication about plant traits across all subdisciplines of plant science. As part of the New York Plant Genomics Consortium, the Program is exploiting genome diversity to discover new genes involved in the development of seeds.

Climate Solutions

Climate solutions research gathers foundational information and links with partners to advance innovative, practical solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises. The research broadly investigates the complex relationship between life and climate and seeks to understand how plants and microbes interact to drive the global carbon cycle. The aim is to identity where, when, and why ecosystems face tipping points and species face extinction. Researchers interact with key partners such as community groups, natural resource managers, and policy maker to deliver solutions.

Structural Botany

Structural botany investigates the form and function of plants. It complements and aids other plant research by shedding light on the very specific characteristics used to identify and classify plants, determine how they grow, and determine their evolutionary pathways. It plays a pivotal role in placing fossil plant species on the evolutionary tree of life when DNA is no longer available. Structural botany also aids conservation by looking at how plant forms and functions may be changing in response to environmental pressures. With the Genomics Program, the Structural Botany laboratory is leading development of the Plant Ontology, a common-language database for facilitating communication about plant traits across all subdisciplines of plant science.

NYBG’s Laboratory Research Projects:

A phylogenomics approach to resolving one of the world’s most diverse, tropical angiosperm radiations: Melastomataceae
Bromeliad Life History, Nutrient Cycling, and Conservation Biology
DNA Barcoding of Dietary Supplements
Evolution and Systematics of the Neotropical Clade of Schefflera (Araliaceae)
Evolution and Development in Lycophytes and Ferns
EvoNet: A Phylogenomic and Systems Biology Approach to Identify Genes Underlying Plant Survival in Marginal, Low-Nitrogen Soils
Fruit Evolution and Development
Genomics of Comparative Seed Evolution
The Green Algae Tree of Life
Living Fossils: Applying Advances in Single Molecule Sequencing to Decode Large and Complex Genomes of Ancient Plant Lineages
Mangrove Resilience and Restoration
Molecular-based Plant Inventory of a Megadiverse Bahian Forest
Optimizing Carbon Sequestration in Constructed Forests
Phylogeny and Systematics of the Characeae
Phylogeography and Conservation Genetics of the Caribbean Zamia clade
Resolving a paradox of global botanical biodiversity: why is Africa the “odd man out?”
Starry Stonewort: Assessing the Threat of an Invasive Freshwater Macroalga in the Northeast
Surviving a mass extinction: Lessons from the K-Pg fern spike
Transforming Selaginella apoda into a Major Model Species
Understanding the effects of ploidal level on responses to global change in plants
Urban Forests Project