Thomas Mitchell-Olds, Newman Ivey White Distinguished Professor  

Thomas Mitchell-Olds

We study genetic variation in plant populations, focusing on genes that influence traits controlling plant performance in an environmental context – a central theme throughout our research in natural and agricultural populations. Much of our work is focused on the genes that affect ecological success and evolutionary fitness in natural environments. Similarly, the interaction of crop plants with their biotic and abiotic environments is controlled by complex trait variation which can be elucidated by interdisciplinary analyses incorporating functional genomics, physiological and chemical ecology, and population and quantitative genetics. We work at several levels: genetic variation within populations, local adaptation among populations, and the evolution of species differences. Our study systems are centered on the wild relatives of Arabidopsis, as well as complex trait variation of rice in Asia and Africa.

Education:
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1985
B.A., Earlham College, 1978

Office Location: French Science Center 3101, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone: +1 919 668 1635
Email Address: tmo1@duke.edu
Web Page: https://sites.duke.edu/tmolab/
Additional Web Page: https://sites.duke.edu/tmolab/

Specialties:
Evolution
Genetics
Ecology and Population Biology
Genomics

Research Categories: Ecological and evolutionary genomics; Complex trait variation; Drought tolerance and food security

Research Description: We study genetic variation in plant populations, focusing on genes that influence traits controlling plant performance in an environmental context – a central theme throughout our research in natural and agricultural populations. Much of our work is focused on the genes that affect ecological success and evolutionary fitness in natural environments. Similarly, the interaction of crop plants with their biotic and abiotic environments is controlled by complex trait variation which can be elucidated by interdisciplinary analyses incorporating functional genomics, physiological and chemical ecology, and population and quantitative genetics. We work at several levels: genetic variation within populations, local adaptation among populations, and the evolution of species differences. Our study systems are centered on the wild relatives of Arabidopsis, as well as complex trait variation of rice and Brachypodium in agricultural and natural populations.

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

  1. Topp, ; CN, ; Iyer-Pascuzzi, AS; Anderson, JT; Lee, C-R; Zurek, PR; Symonova, O; Zheng, Y; Bucksch, A; Milyeko, Y; Galkovskyi, T; Moore, BT; Harer, J; Edelsbrunner, H; Mitchell-Olds, T; Weitz, JS; Benfey, PN, 3-dimensional phenotyping of growing root systems and QTL mapping identifies core regions of the rice genome controlling root architecture, PNAS, vol. 110 (2013), pp. E1695-1704 [doi] .
  2. Prasad, KVSK; Song, B-H; Olson-Manning, C; Anderson, JT; Lee, C-R; Schranz, ME; Windsor, AJ; Clauss, MJ; Manzaneda, AJ; Naqvi, I; Reichelt, M; Gershenzon, J; Rupasinghe, SG; Schuler, MA; Mitchell-Olds, T, A gain-of-function polymorphism controlling complex traits and fitness in nature., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 337 no. 6098 (August, 2012), pp. 1081-1084 [22936775], [doi]  [abs].
  3. Anderson, JT; Lee, C-R; Rushworth, CA; Colautti, RI; Mitchell-Olds, T, Genetic trade-offs and conditional neutrality contribute to local adaptation., Molecular ecology, vol. 22 no. 3 (February, 2013), pp. 699-708 [22420446], [doi]  [abs].
  4. Colautti, RI; Lee, C-R; Mitchell-Olds, T, Origin, fate, and architecture of ecologically relevant genetic variation., Current opinion in plant biology, vol. 15 no. 2 (April, 2012), pp. 199-204 [22341792], [doi]  [abs].
  5. Anderson, JT; Willis, JH; Mitchell-Olds, T, Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation., Trends in genetics : TIG, vol. 27 no. 7 (July, 2011), pp. 258-266 [21550682], [doi]  [abs].
  6. Benfey, PN; Mitchell-Olds, T, From genotype to phenotype: systems biology meets natural variation., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 320 no. 5875 (April, 2008), pp. 495-497 [18436781], [doi]  [abs].
  7. Mitchell-Olds, T; Schmitt, J, Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary significance of natural variation in Arabidopsis., Nature, vol. 441 no. 7096 (June, 2006), pp. 947-952 [16791187], [doi]  [abs].
  8. Kroymann, J; Mitchell-Olds, T, Epistasis and balanced polymorphism influencing complex trait variation., Nature, vol. 435 no. 7038 (May, 2005), pp. 95-98 [15875023], [doi]  [abs].