| James F. Smith
Professor,
Department of Biology
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Recent
Teaching
BOT
305 Systematic Botany
BIOL
401 Organic Evolution
BIOL
517 Species and Speciation
BIOL
597 Special Topics: Population Genetics
BIOL
597 Special Topics: Introduction to Bioinformatics
Current
Research Interests
Evolution
of Floral Symmetry in Gesneriaceae: Recent
work on Antirrhinum and relatives have identified genes important in the
control of floral symmetry, cycloidea and dichotoma.
Homologs of cycloidea have been identified in Gesneriaceae known
as GCYC. Although most
Gesneriaceae have flowers with bilateral symmetry a few genera have full or
partial radial symmetry (in the latter the corollas are radially symmetric or
nearly radially symmetric, but stamen abortion results in 4 instead of 5
stamens). Investigations at the DNA sequence level of GCYC in
Gesneriaceae with have not revealed any obvious mutations that may disrupt
function of this gene in plants with radially
symmetric flowers. Likewise rates
of mutation at the DNA level and synonymous to nonsynonymous substitution rates
are not significantly different for species with radial or bilateral symmetry.
The control of symmetry for these plants must lie in other regulatory
genes and investigations at the mRNA level are beginning.
| Phylogenetics
of tribe Episcieae (Gesneriaceae): I
have initiated investigations into the generic level relationships within tribe
Episcieae of Gesneriaceae using several different genes from both the
chloroplast and nuclear genomes. This
study represents and expansion of earlier studies on this tribe that used only a
few genes and sampled only a few species for each genus.
In the current study I am sampling more widely from larger genera,
attempting to sample some of the more disparate morphological species in each
genus and using more sequence data to more strongly support intergeneric
relationships. |
 Jim Smith of BSU and Eric Tepe of Miami University press plants in French Guiana |
Phylogenetics
within Columnea (Gesneriaceae): Columnea
is the largest genus within neotropical Gesneriaceae and all previous attempts
to resolve relationships within this genus have been poorly resolved or poorly
supported. I am currently sampling
many low copy nuclear genes in an attempt to identify a combination of sequences
that will resolve and provide support for relationships within this genus.
Currently I am using a small subset of the species, sampling from each of
the sections. As genes are
identified that provide sequence variation, I will increase the sampling to test
the current sectional classification within this clade.
For
more information on the Gesneriaceae, see the Tree of Life pages.
Process
and Pattern of Speciation in the Hawaiian genus Cyrtandra: The Hawaiian plant
genus Cyrtandra comprises 56 species with over 75 recognized interspecific
hybrids. Earlier investigations have demonstrated that the hybrids identified on
the basis of morphological intermediacy were also genetic intermediates (Smith
et al. 1996). An interesting aspect of the pattern of hybridization is that most
interspecific hybrids were also intersectional hybrids. If, as presumed, each
section represents a separate introduction to the Hawaiian islands then the
occurrence of so many interspecific but few intraspecific hybrids raises
questions regarding the process of speciation in this group. My current research
is to resolve the evolutionary relationships of the species to determine if the
sections represent separate introduction events to the Hawaiian islands using
comparative DNA sequencing
Phylogenetics
of Piperaceae: I have been
conducting research on the phylogenetics of Piperaceae in collaboration with Dr.
Chris Davidson of the Idaho Botanical Research Foundation of Boise, Idaho. Our ultimage goal is to work on the phylogenetics of the
family worldwide, but we are currently focussing our efforts on two clades that
have been identified as a monophyletic group by both our studies and previous
investigations. These are subgenera
Enckea and Arctottonia. We
are also sampling from several different genes, including low copy nuclear
genes. The latter project is also
in collaboration with Dr. Allan Bornstein of Southeast Missouri State
University, Cape Girardeau, MO.
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Paradrymonia maculata from Les Nouragues, French Guiana Photographs on this page taken by Chris Davidson, Ph.D. |
Recent
Publications
Smith, J. F., L. C. Hileman, M. Powell, and D. A. Baum. In press. Evolution of GCYC, a Gesneriaceae homolog of CYCLOIDEA, within subfamily Gesnerioideae (Gesneriaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
Smith,
J. F. and T. A. Bateman. 2002. Genetic differentiation of rare and common
varieties of Eriogonum shockleyi (Polygonaceae)
in Idaho using ISSR variability. Western North American Naturalist 62:316-326.
Smith,
J. F. 2001. The phylogenetic relationships of Lembocarpus and Goyazia (Gesneriaceae): based on
ndhF
sequences. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 88:135-143.
Smith,
J. F. 2001. High species diversity in fleshy-fruited tropical understory plants.
The American Naturalist 157:646-653.
Amaya
M., M., L. E. Skog, C. E. Gonzalez and J. F. Smith. 2000. Una nueva especie de Columnea (Gesneriaceae) del Norte de los Andes Colombianos. Caldasia
22:185-189
Smith,
J. F. 2000. A phylogenetic analysis of tribes Beslerieae and Napeantheae (Gesneriaceae):
parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses
of ndhF sequences. Systematic Botany 25:71-80.
Smith,
J. F. 2000. Phylogenetic signal common to three data sets: combining data which
initially appear heterogeneous. Plant Systematics and Evolution 221:179-198.
Smith,
J. F. 2000. Phylogenetic resolution within the tribe Episcieae (Gesneriaceae):
congruence of ITS
and ndhF sequences from parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses.
American Journal of Botany 87:883-897.
Smith,
J. F. 1999. Alloplectus martinianus, a new species of
Gesneriaceae from Ecuador. Novon 9:419-421.
Smith,
J. F., M. Kresge, M. Møller, and Q. C. Cronk.
1998. The African violets (Saintpaulia) are members of Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella (Gesneriaceae):
Combined evidence from chloroplast
and nuclear ribosomal genes. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 55:1-11.
Smith,
J. F. and S. Atkinson. 1998. Phylogenetic analysis of the tribes Gloxinieae and
Gesnerieae (Gesneriaceae): Data from ndhF Sequences. Selbyana 19:122-131.
Herbarium
As
director of the Snake River Plains Herbarium at Boise State University (SRP), I
have seen the collection grow from a small teaching collection of ~6000
specimens to a research and reference collection of over 25,000 specimens.
The collection focuses primarily on plants of southwest Idaho, but we
continue to add plants from throughout Idaho and
surrounding states. The
collection continues to expand through collections of faculty and students as
well as an active exchange program. For
information about exchange contact Dr. James Smith, jfsmith@boisestate.edu.