Budke Laboratory

Maternal Effects, Parent-Offspring Conflict, & Structure-Function Relationships

• Our research studies the structural abilities of maternal plants to protect their offspring. In mosses, this protection from dehydration stress is provided by a thick waxy cuticle. The maternal cuticle forms on the moss gametophyte calyptra early during development when the offspring sporophyte is unable to protect itself. Functional tests have revealed that the maternal cuticle is critical for offspring survival, development, and fitness.

  Our research studies the structural abilities of maternal plants to protect their offspring. In mosses, this protection from dehydration stress is provided by a thick waxy cuticle. The maternal cuticle forms on the moss gametophyte calyptra early during development when the offspring sporophyte is unable to protect itself. Functional tests have revealed that the maternal cuticle is critical for offspring survival, development, and fitness.

• In collaboration with chemistry researchers in the Jetter Lab at the University of British Columbia and in the Busta Lab at the University of Minnesota - Duluth, we analyzed cuticle chemistry to determine whether maternal cuticles are unique and potentially chemically specialized for protection.

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Systematics, Taxonomy, & Morphological Evolution

• Refining our systematic and taxonomic concepts is key to cataloging the planet’s biodiversity and broadening our understanding of plant evolution. Our concepts of species and the relationships between them are often initially based on morphology. Analyses using molecular phylogenetics and cytological studies can reveal novel relationships and uncover hidden diversity. In organisms thought to have few morphological features, such as mosses, homoplasy is regularly uncovered due to morphological reduction. Using the process of reciprocal illumination species can be further explored to determine whether our systematic and taxonomic concepts need to be revised. This may result in the description of new species (Isoëtes tennesseensis Luebke & Budke) or families (Micromitriaceae Smyth ex Goffinet & Budke).

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Natural History Collections & Specimen-Based Research

• Collections are a record of the past and a resource for the future. We use these specimens to study and document the biodiversity of plants across our planet and engage in a variety of research areas, including conservation of rare species, invasive species biology, and describing species that are new to science.

• University of Tennessee - Knoxville Herbarium (TENN) houses over 649,000 specimens of vascular plants (ferns, cone-bearing, and flowering plants), bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and fungi (including lichens). Our collection is the primary repository documenting the native and naturalized plants and fungi of Tennessee. It is the largest collection from the southern Appalachians and has a strong emphasis on the eastern US, Mexico, and Central America. We are continuing to database our specimens to make them publicaly available with support from the National Science Foundation and UTK endowments.

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2020 to Present

National Science Foundation, Digitization TCN DBI-2001500 - Collaborative: Building a global consortium of bryophytes and lichens: keystones of cryptobiotic communities (GLOBAL). Twenty-five collaborating institutions. Lead PI: Budke JM (TENN). Project Website - Online Abstract

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