Harris Family Foundation Plant Genetics Laboratory

Finding Answers to Survival at the Molecular Level

There are thousands upon thousands of plant species. Within each is a tremendous amount of diversity, ensuring its adaptability and therefore survival. This diversity is encoded in plant DNA, its genetic material. Chicago Botanic Garden scientists are learning about plant populations by studying plant genetics, particularly among rare and endangered plants.

PHOTO: Prairie Plants How Plant Genetics Benefits You—and the World

Why is diversity so important? All life depends on the connections among different species; these relationships make ecosystems function. Plant diversity provides all the necessities of life, including food, energy, building materials, medicines, oxygen, and clean water. Diversity not only among different types of plants, but within plants, is critical to the overall health of a species. Such genetic diversity keeps plant populations healthy overall, benefiting you by keeping the ecosystems upon which you depend viable.

PHOTO: lab Garden scientists at the Harris Family Foundation Plant Genetics Laboratory are using such specialized equipment as a DNA sequencer and centrifuge to conduct molecular studies to help correlate a plant’s genes with how it grows in varying conditions. This work, along with quantitative analysis, helps them identify plants with genetic characteristics that will help the plants thrive when restored to a particular area.

The easiest way to understand the importance of diversity within and among all plants is to look at a specific case. The population of purple coneflowers in one specific place, for example, has unique genes—coding specific within their DNA—that allows them to adapt to the local environment; a purple coneflower population in another location has a different set of distinct traits. If one of these populations is lost to development or habitat degradation, its unique genes are gone forever. The species survives, but its genetic diversity, and its potential to adapt to change, weakens. This is true of all plant species.

Case Studies

Jeremie Fant, Ph.D., studies how evolutionary forces shape the patterns of biodiversity observed in nature. His research focuses on restoring and managing plant populations to allow these natural processes to continue. His goal is to better understand the level and distribution of genetic diversity within a species, and the several species he is studying include American buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), beardtongue (Penstemon spp.), and thistles (Cirsium spp.).

take action:
What can you do?

PHOTO: milkweed

Change your actions:
Choose native plants from local sources to landscape your yard. To help restore and preserve local natural areas, support and volunteer for Chicago Wilderness organizations.

Change your community:
Get involved in tracking endangered plants through Plants of Concern, and encourage your local officials and legislators to protect natural areas.

In the Laboratory

A combination of molecular and quantitative techniques enables Garden scientists to understand the level and distribution of genetic diversity within rare and endangered species. A DNA sequencer and centrifuge is helping these researchers gain an understanding of the molecular genetics of such plants, ultimately enabling plant populations and their habitats to be better managed and preserved. The Harris Family Foundation Plant Genetics Laboratory and the Economic Botany Laboratory together are 2,000 square feet.

Staff Scientists

Louise Egerton-Warburton, Ph.D.
Soil Ecologist
Manager, Native Habitats

Jeremie Fant, Ph.D.
Manager, Plant Biology and Seed Labs

Krissa Skogen, Ph.D.
Conservation Scientist

Nyree J. C. Zerega, Ph. D.
Director, Master's Program in Plant Biology and Conservation