Kathleen M. Pryer, Professor  

Kathleen M. Pryer

Education:
Ph.D., Botany, Duke University, 1995
M.Sc., Botany, University of Guelph, 1981
B.Sc., Biology, McGill University, 1976

Office Location: BioSci: 358
Office Phone: (919) 660-7380
Email Address: pryer@duke.edu
Web Page: http://www.pryerlab.net

Specialties:
Evolution
Systematics

Research Categories: Evolutionary biology of early land plants

Research Description: My research focuses on understanding the evolutionary relationships of ancient land plants, especially ferns and horsetails, by integrating evidence from morphology, molecules (DNA sequence data from multiple genes), and the fossil record. I use an explicit phylogenetic framework to examine the morphological evolution of various sporophytic and gametophytic characters within vascular plants, and to gain insight into the evolution of various life history traits and the body plans that typify vascular plants. A phylogenetic perspective also informs my molecular evolutionary studies that attempt to elucidate why we observe remarkable rate heterogeneity in chloroplast genes in land plant phylogeny.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

  1. Korall, P., E. Schuettpelz, and K.M. Pryer, Abrupt deceleration of molecular evolution linked to the origin of arborescence in ferns, Evolution, vol. 64 (2010), pp. 2786-2792 .
  2. Beck, J.B., M.D. Windham, G. Yatskievych, and K.M. Pryer, A diploids-first approach to species delimitation and interpreting polyploid evolution in the fern genus Astrolepis (Pteridaceae), Systematic Botany, vol. 35 (2010), pp. 223-234 .
  3. Wolf, P.G., J.P. Der, A.M. Duffy, J.B. Davidson, A.L. Grusz, and K.M. Pryer, The evolution of chloroplast genes and genomes in ferns, Plant Molecular Biology 76: 251–261. (2011) .
  4. Pryer, K.M., E. Schuettpelz, L. Huiet, A.L. Grusz, C.J. Rothfels, T. Avent, D. Schwartz and M.D. Windham, DNA barcoding exposes a case of mistaken identity in the fern horticultural trade., Molecular Ecology Resources, vol. 10 (2010), pp. 979-985 .
  5. Pryer, K.M. and D.J. Hearn, Evolution of leaf form in marsileaceous ferns: evidence for heterochrony, Evolution 63: 498-513. (2009) .
  6. Schuettpelz, E. and K.M. Pryer, Evidence for a Cenozoic radiation of ferns in an angiosperm-dominated canopy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 106: 11200-11205 (cover). (2009) .
  7. Schuettpelz E. and K.M. Pryer, Fern phylogeny inferred from 400 leptosporangiate species and three plastid genes., Taxon 56: 1037-1050. (2007) .
  8. Schneider, H., E. Schuettpelz, K.M. Pryer, R. Cranfill, S. Magallón, R. Lupia, Ferns diversified in the shadow of angiosperms, Nature, vol. 428 (2004), pp. 553-557 .
  9. Pryer, K.M., H. Schneider, E.A. Zimmer, and J. Banks, Deciding among green plants for whole genome studies, Trends in Plant Science, vol. 7 (2002), pp. 550-554 (cover) .
  10. Pryer, K.M., H. Schneider, A.R. Smith, R. Cranfill, P.G. Wolf, J.S. Hunt, and S.D. Sipes, Horsetails and ferns are a monophyletic group and the closest living relatives to seed plants, Nature, vol. 409 (2001), pp. 618-622 (cover) .

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