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Jeffery Morawetz
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2007
U-M affiliation(s)
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan Herbarium
Contact information
University of Michigan
2010B Kraus Natural Science Building
830 N. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048
or
University of Michigan Herbarium
3600 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2228
Phone: (734) 936-3335
Fax: (734) 763-0544
Email: morawetz@umich.edu |
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Fields of study
Plant systematics
Research interests
I have a broad interest in the systematics & taxonomy of flowering plants, and the molecular evolution of photosynthetic genes in holoparasitic plants. My research has focused on extensive fieldwork in Africa to acquire a better understanding of the relationships among the diverse and poorly understood tropical genera of the cosmopolitan parasitic plant family Orobanchaceae (broomrapes). The tropical clade of Orobanchaceae forms a well-supported monophyletic group, and is economically important because it contains three of the four most noxious parasitic weeds of agriculture. The range of habit (herbaceous vs. woody; hemiparasitic vs. holoparasitic) and floral morphology is most diverse in this clade. With multiple origins of holoparasitism, this group provides an ideal framework to investigate the fate of photosynthetic genes in plants that no longer utilize this metabolic pathway.
My current post-doctoral research with Paul Berry is focused on the giant genus Euphorbia, which comprises approximately 2,000 species exhibiting extensive diversity in growth form (herbs, shrubs, trees, succulents, geophytes) and floral morphology. The one morphological feature uniting this amazing and diverse group of plants is the complex and highly reduced inflorescence termed the cyathium. I am involved in coordinating fieldwork in the Old World, as well as managing the molecular data associated with this project. The ultimate goal is to produce a robust phylogeny addressing the relationships of major groups within Euphorbia, a web-based monograph treating each species, and an interactive online key.
Mentor
Paul E. Berry
Euphorbia Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Project
Select publications
Morawetz, J. J. and C.P. Randle. The repatriation of Harveya alba (Orobanchaceae). Kew Bulletin (submitted)
Morawetz, J.J., C.P. Randle and A.D. Wolfe. Phylogenetic relationships within the tropical clade of Orobanchace. Taxon (submitted)
Morawetz, J.J. and A.D. Wolfe. Assessing the monophyly of Alectra and its relationship to Melasma (Orobanchaceae). Systematic Botany (in press)
Morawetz, J.J. and A.D. Wolfe. Taxonomic revision of the Alectra sessiliflora complex (Orobanchaceae). Systematic Botany (submitted)
Wolfe, A.D., C.P. Randle, S.L. Datwyler, J.J. Morawetz, N. Arguedas and J. Diaz. 2006. An examination of phylogeny, taxonomic affinities, and biogeography of Penstemon (Plantaginaceae) based on ITS and cpDNA sequence data. American Journal of Botany 93(11):1699-1713.
Sytsma, K.J., J.J. Morawetz, J.C. Pires, M. Nepokroeff, E. Conti, M. Zjhra, J.C. Hall, and M.W. Chase. 2002. Urticalean rosids: circumscription, rosid ancestry, and phylogenetics based on rbcL, trnL-F, and ndhF sequences. American Journal of Botany 89(9):1531-1546.
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