Acer VanWallendael
Bio
Our lab’s focus is on the intersection between evolutionary genetics and weed science. We collaborate widely to use evolutionary concepts to understand weed management, and to use weeds and invasive species as empirical evolutionary models. We study many aspects of weed science, using ecology, evolution, and genetics to understand large-scale ecological patterns and microevolutionary processes.
Crop-related weeds: Many cultivated plants are closely related to troublesome weeds. By comparing genomic and ecological traits between crop-weed pairs, we can better understand the evolution of both weediness and domestication. Currently, the lab studies weedy and domesticated varieties of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum). This dryland crop has invasive and weedy varieties throughout the world. Our research has found a deep genetic and phenotypic divergence between varieties, though they may still hybridize in the wild.
Rapid weed evolution: With large population sizes and high selection pressure, weeds can rapidly evolve new traits. By monitoring weed populations over time, we aim to detect large changes before they become problematic, and to gather useful information about genomic changes in natural plant populations.
Area(s) of Expertise
Genetics and genomics, evolutionary ecology, weeds and invasive species, fungal microbiomes of plants, polyploidy, local adaptation
Publications
- What we learn from weed genetics , American Journal of Botany (2026)
- Draft genome of the switchgrass head smut pathogen Tilletia maclaganii , Microbiology Resource Announcements (2025)
- Haploblocks contribute to parallel climate adaptation following global invasion of a cosmopolitan plant , Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025)
- Local adaptation of both plant and pathogen: an arms‐race compromise in switchgrass rust , New Phytologist (2025)
- Panicum virgatum Raw sequence reads , DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRC) (2025)
- Pooled whole-genome sequencing in Puccinia novopanici , DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRC) (2025)
- Switchgrass Steroidal Saponins Reduce Fungal Disease but Decrease Yeast Fermentation Yield , GCB Bioenergy (2025)
- Wild barley (Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. Spontaneum (C. Koch) Thell.): a noxious weed species in Iran and an untapped genetic resource for barley cultivar development- molecular approach , Acta Physiologiae Plantarum (2025)
- Local adaptation of both plant and pathogen: an arms-race compromise in switchgrass rust , bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2024)
- Local adaptation of both plant and pathogen: an arms-race compromise in switchgrass rust , Evolution (2024)