Bio:
1990 Licenciada en Ciencias Biológicas (Licenciate in Biological Sciences). Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.1998 Ph. D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 1998-1999 Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Massachusetts, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 2000 Mercer Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University, Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. 2001 Milton fund Post-doc, Harvard University, Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. 2003 Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Biology. University of Washington. 2006 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology. University of Washington.
Research Interests:
 The flower, and the interactions with pollinators that it enhances, are amongst the key innovations that have allowed angiosperms to be so successful. Current research in my laboratory takes an evolution of development approach to investigate the genetic basis of two adaptive features of the flower: breeding system and petaloidy. Our focus is on modulators of floral development (MADS-box and MYB transcription factors) as candidate genes for angiosperm diversification. We capitalize on the diversity of breeding and pollination systems in the genus Thalictrum, a basal Eudicot with a strategic phylogenetic position between model systems. Through comparative expression and functional analyses of reproductive organ identity genes and downstream genes responsible for features of the perianth involved in pollinator attraction, we hope to contribute to an overall understanding of the genetic basis of flower diversification.
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Selected Publications:
-Di Stilio,V.S., C. Martin, A.F. Schulfer and C.F. Connelly. An ortholog of MIXTA-like2 controls epidermal cell shape in flowers of Thalictrum. New Phytologist, in press.
-Di Stilio, V. S., E. Kramer and D. Baum. 2005. Floral MADS box genes and homeotic gender dimorphism in Thalictrum dioicum (Ranunculaceae), a new model for the study of dioecy. The Plant Journal 41: 755-766.-E. Kramer, A. Jaramillo and V. Di Stilio. 2004. Patterns of gene duplication and functional evolution during the diversification of the AGAMOUS subfamily of MADS box genes in angiosperms. Genetics 166: 1011-1023. -Kramer, E. M., V. S. Di Stilio and P. Schluter. 2003. Complex patterns of gene duplication in the APETALA3 and PISTILLATA lineages of the Ranunculaceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (1): 1-11. -Cheung, A. Y., H-M. Wu, V. S. Di Stilio, R. Glaven, C. Chen, E. Wong, J. Ogdahl and A. Estavillo. 2000. Pollen-pistil interactions in Nicotiana tabacum. Annals of Botany 85 (Supplement A): 29-37. -Armbruster, W. S., V. S. Di Stilio, J. Tuxill, T. Flores and J. Velazquez-Runk. 1999. Covariance and Decoupling of Flower and Vegetative Traits in Nine neotropical plants: A Re-evaluation of R. L. Berg's Correlation-Pleiades Concept . American Journal of Botany 86: 39-55. -Di Stilio V. S., R. V. Kesseli and D. L. Mulcahy. 1998. A pseudoautosomal random amplified polymorphic DNA marker for the sex chromosomes of Silene dioica. Genetics 149: 2057-2062. -Y. Hi. Zhang, V. S. Di Stilio, F. Rehman, A. Tucker, D. Mulcahy and R. Kesseli. 1997. Y-chromosome specific markers and the evolution of dioecy in the genus Silene. Genome 41 (2): 141-147.
Teaching Interests:
Biol 180 (Introductory Genetics and Evolution)
Biol 441 (Morphology and Anatomy of Land Plants)
Biol 489 (Evolution of Plant Development) |
