Stephen Downie

 

Professor of Plant Biology
Systematics and Biodiversity Group UIUC
Program in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation
Associate Curator, UIUC Vascular Plant Herbarium
239 Morrill  MC-116
(217) 333-1275

Education

B.Sc., 1982, University of Guelph
Ph.D., 1988, University of Alberta, Canada
Postdoctoral positions, University of Michigan and Indiana University

Teaching

IB 335 Systematics of Plants
IB 467 Principles of Systematics
IB 469 Evolutionary Survey of Plants

Research Overview

Despite multidisciplinary studies using non-molecular characters, historical relationships among and within many families of flowering plants remain unclear. Reconstruction of phylogenies from molecular data has become  increasingly common in systematics and has provided valuable insight into evolutionary processes and relationships. We are using the record of molecular change contained within the chloroplast and nuclear genomes to trace evolutionary histories and to determine phylogenetic relationships in several groups of flowering plants.

 

Unique structural rearrangements of the chloroplast genome are useful as systematic characters, in part because their rarity suggests phylogenetic stability.Of additional interest is the detection, characterization, and phylogenetic circumscription of these structural mutations.

 

Currently, we are reconstructing the evolutionary history of Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) and elucidating patterns of character evolution using both molecular and morphological data. By integrating all available evidence, a revised higher-level classification of these diverse and economically important plants is resulting.

Recent Publications

Spalik K and Downie SR  (2006)  Intercontinental disjunctions in Cryptotaenia (Apiaceae, Oenantheae): an appraisal using molecular data.  Journal of Biogeography, submitted

 

Calvino CI and Downie SR  (2007)  Circumscription and phylogeny of Apiaceae subfamily Saniculoideae based on chlorplast DNA sequences.  American Journal of Botany, 44(1): 175-191.

 

Sun F-J, Levin GA, Downie SR  (2006)  A multivariate analysis of Pseudocymopterus (Apiaceae).  Journal of Torrey Botanical Club, 133(4): 499-512.