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| Plant Evolution | ||||||
| Simon Malcomber, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences California State University - Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Blvd Long Beach, CA 90840 Phone: 562-985-4814 Fax: 562-985-8878 email: smalcomb@csulb.edu Office: MLSC 202 Lab: MLSC 211 |
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| My students and I use a variety of evolutionary, molecular, morphological and developmental techniques to investigate (1) how plants are related to one another (systematics) and (2) the developmental and genetic changes that cause plants to look different from one another (Evolutionary Developmental Genetics).
Most of our research is focused on the grass family (Poaceae, including the cereal crops barley, corn, oats, rice, sorghum, tef, and wheat) and immediate grass relatives such as Ecdeiocoleaceae, Joinvilleaceae, Flagellariaceae, Anarthriaceae, Centrolepidaceae and Restionaceae. We are particularly interested in understanding the mechanisms regulating the way flowers appear (floral morphology) and how flowers are arranged upon a plant (inflorescence morphology). These characters are used extensively in taxonomic keys to identify the different species and have also been under intense selection during the domestication of the different cereal to improve crop yield. |
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| last modified: May 2008 | ||||||