Welcome!
The Whiteman Laboratory is part of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. We study the genomic basis of plant-animal interactions.
The main lab project focuses on understanding how free-living organisms evolve to become parasitic and specialized on a small number of host species and how hosts defend themselves against parasites. An example of a specific question we are addressing is how parasites overcome toxins made by plants, including toxins with broad targets such as mustard oils (e.g., wasabi) and those with specific targets, like cardenolides (e.g., digitoxin). The model system we use includes a parasitic fly in the Drosophila lineage (called Scaptomyza flava) and the genetic model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a host. Each of these two species has substantial genomic resources, molecular tools and they actually interact in nature. Adult females of S. flava use their cutting ovipositor that serves as both an egg-laying organ and a trophic organ. The egg hatches into a larva, which then creates a mine in the leaf, where it completes development.
A smaller lab project involves the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). We use that system to identify the the genomic architecture underlying variation in foraging traits, and to understand the evolutionary history of those loci. This is a collaborative project with Professor Mary (Cassie) Stoddard at Princeton University and David Inouye at the RMBL
The main lab project focuses on understanding how free-living organisms evolve to become parasitic and specialized on a small number of host species and how hosts defend themselves against parasites. An example of a specific question we are addressing is how parasites overcome toxins made by plants, including toxins with broad targets such as mustard oils (e.g., wasabi) and those with specific targets, like cardenolides (e.g., digitoxin). The model system we use includes a parasitic fly in the Drosophila lineage (called Scaptomyza flava) and the genetic model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a host. Each of these two species has substantial genomic resources, molecular tools and they actually interact in nature. Adult females of S. flava use their cutting ovipositor that serves as both an egg-laying organ and a trophic organ. The egg hatches into a larva, which then creates a mine in the leaf, where it completes development.
A smaller lab project involves the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). We use that system to identify the the genomic architecture underlying variation in foraging traits, and to understand the evolutionary history of those loci. This is a collaborative project with Professor Mary (Cassie) Stoddard at Princeton University and David Inouye at the RMBL
Latest news from the Whiteman Laboratory:
Ph.D candidates Kirsten Verster and Tim O'Connor each received a summer research grant from the Department of Integrative Biology!
Ph.D candidate Tim O'Connor received another Philomathia fellowship to support his dissertation research next year. Congrats Tim!
We're getting close to submitting our ten-years-in-the-making genome paper on Scaptomyza flava and relatives. Stay tuned!
Noah was a co-chair of the 2018 Annual Drosophila Research Conference (of the Genetics Society of America) in Philadelphia, the next conference will be held in Dallas, Texas.
Ph.D. student Nicolas Alexandre received a grant from the David and Marvalee Wake Fund to support his work on broad-tailed hummingbird genomics.
Ph.D. student Julianne Pelaez received a Mentored Research Award from UC-Berkeley
Ph.D. candidate Tim O'Connor received a 2018 Graduate Student Research Award from the American Society of Naturalists to study the evolutionary history of interactions between creosote bush and the remarkable insect community it hosts:
www.amnat.org/announcements/ANNStuResearchAWA.html
Ph.D. student Julianne Pelaez received a 2018 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to support her dissertation research on reproductive biology of drosophilid flies.
Former Ph.D. students Dr. Parris Humphrey and Dr. Andrew Gloss led a recent publication on habitat-associated evolutionary divergence in a plant driven by interactions with herbivores for a special issue on plant-herbivore interactions in Oecologia (PDF is found here).
Ph.D candidates Kirsten Verster and Tim O'Connor each received a summer research grant from the Department of Integrative Biology!
Ph.D candidate Tim O'Connor received another Philomathia fellowship to support his dissertation research next year. Congrats Tim!
We're getting close to submitting our ten-years-in-the-making genome paper on Scaptomyza flava and relatives. Stay tuned!
Noah was a co-chair of the 2018 Annual Drosophila Research Conference (of the Genetics Society of America) in Philadelphia, the next conference will be held in Dallas, Texas.
Ph.D. student Nicolas Alexandre received a grant from the David and Marvalee Wake Fund to support his work on broad-tailed hummingbird genomics.
Ph.D. student Julianne Pelaez received a Mentored Research Award from UC-Berkeley
Ph.D. candidate Tim O'Connor received a 2018 Graduate Student Research Award from the American Society of Naturalists to study the evolutionary history of interactions between creosote bush and the remarkable insect community it hosts:
www.amnat.org/announcements/ANNStuResearchAWA.html
Ph.D. student Julianne Pelaez received a 2018 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to support her dissertation research on reproductive biology of drosophilid flies.
Former Ph.D. students Dr. Parris Humphrey and Dr. Andrew Gloss led a recent publication on habitat-associated evolutionary divergence in a plant driven by interactions with herbivores for a special issue on plant-herbivore interactions in Oecologia (PDF is found here).