ABOUT US
Currently, our lab has four main research lines: 1) the study of the genetic bases of floral organ identity, floral symmetry and perianth elaboration and pigmentation in neotropical flowers, particularly in the Aristolochiaceae , the Orchidaceae and the Tropaeolaceae, 2) the study of reproductive transitions in orchids of commercial interest, 3) the functional evolution of gene families involved in fruit histogenesis, especially in the Chloranthaceae, Papaveraceae, Solanaceae and Rubiaceae and 4) the molecular mechanisms of flower and fruit development as well as genetic changes in hemi and holoparasitic neotropical plants. We are strongly committed with undergraduate and graduate programs both in terms of teaching and research. We are constantly looking for collaborations and exchange opportunities. We are based at the Universidad de Antioquia in the heart of Medellin (Colombia) and at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá. Our closest collaborators are Dr. Barbara Ambrose at the New York Botanical Garden (New York, USA), Dr. Cristina Ferrandiz at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (Valencia, Spain), Drs. Stefan Wanke and Christoph Neinhuis at the Technische Universität Dresden (Dresden, Germany), Dr Elena Kramer (Harvard University) and Dr. Juan Fernando Alzate, Director of the Centro de Secuenciación Nacional Genómica (Medellín, Colombia). The PIs serve also in various editorial committees of top level Journals such as Plant Reproduction, Botanical Sciences, Evo Devo, Flora, and Frontiers in Plant Science.
