Genomics of adaptation over space and time

Medicago truncatula, or barrel medick, a close relative of the alfalfa sprouts you’ve seen in salad bars, is a model for research on the legume-rhizobium mutualism nitrogen fixation mutualism. It is native to the Mediterranean, which includes regions that have seen substantial increases in average annual temperature due to climate change over the few decades. This makes barrel medick a uniquely useful species in which to study the genome-wide effects of...

Mutualism faces the heat

Joshua trees, which are cultural icons and ecological keystones of the Mojave Desert, are exclusively pollinated by highly specialized moths. The moths lay eggs in Joshua tree flowers, then deliberately apply pollen to fertilize the flowers so that, when the flowers develop into fruit, the moths' larvae can eat some of the seeds inside. This unique and mutually beneficial relationship is under threat by changes in land use and climate across the Mojave, and the Yoder Lab...