Research publications
14. Richard J. A. Buggs, Natalie M. Elliott, Linjing Zhang, Jin Koh, Lyderson F. Viccini, Douglas E. Soltis and Pamela S. Soltis (2010) Tissue-specific silencing of homoeologs in natural populations of the recent allopolyploid Tragopogon mirus New Phytologist 186: 175-183
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13. Richard J. A. Buggs, Srikar Chamala, Wei Wu, Lu Gao, Gregory D. May, Patrick S. Schnable, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis and W. Brad Barbazuk (2010) Characterization of duplicate gene evolution in the recent natural allopolyploid Tragopogon miscellus by next-generation sequencing and Sequenom MassARRAY genotyping Molecular Ecology 19 (Suppl. 1, Next Generation Molecular Ecology): 132-146
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12. Douglas E. Soltis, Richard J. A. Buggs, W. Brad Barbazuk, Patrick S. Schnable and Pamela S. Soltis (2009) On the origins of species: does evolution repeat itself in polyploid populations of independent Origin? Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology in press, Volume LXXIV
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11. Richard J. A. Buggs, Pamela S. Soltis and Douglas E. Soltis (2009) Does hybridization between divergent progenitors drive whole-genome duplication? Molecular Ecology 18: 3334-3339
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10. Richard J. A. Buggs, Andrew N. Doust, Jennifer A. Tate, Jin Koh, Kerry Soltis, F. Alex Feltus, Andrew Paterson, Pamela S. Soltis and Douglas E. Soltis (2009) Gene loss and silencing in Tragopogon miscellus (Asteraceae): comparison of natural and synthetic allotetraploids. Heredity 103: 73-81
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This paper documents the rapid loss of duplicated genes in the plant species Tragopogon miscellus (see publication 9 below). A good summary of our results and their implications, written by other scientists in the field, can be found here.
9. Jennifer A. Tate, V. Vaughan Symonds, Andrew N. Doust, Richard J. A. Buggs, Evgeny V. Mavrodiev, Lucas Majure, Pamela S. Soltis and Douglas E. Soltis (2009) Synthetic polyploids of Tragopogon miscellus and T. mirus (Asteraceae): 60 years after Ownbey's discovery. American Journal of Botany 96: 979-988
Abstract
Plant species Tragopogon miscellus and T, mirus are classic examples of recent allopolyploidization. They formed about 80 years ago in the northwestern United States, through hybridization between the introduced speces T. dubius and T. pratensis. Genome duplication made them unable to interbreed with their parental species and hence new species. This paper reports the re-synthesis of both species in the greenhouses of the University of Florida.
8. Richard J. A. Buggs, Pamela S. Soltis, Evgeny V. Mavrodiev, V. Vaughan Symonds and Douglas E. Soltis (2008) Does phylogenetic distance between parental genomes govern the success of polyploids? Castanea 73:74-93
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The first in a series of special invited reviews published by the journal of the Southern Appalacian Botanical Society. This study tests an long-standing hypothesis: that polyploids are less likely to form if their parents are very closely related, compared to when they are the products of hybridisation between more distant species. Using molecular phylogenies from several genera, we found no overall support for the hypothesis. We argue that this fits well with current theory. Several other groups have recently become interested in this issue, so this is unlikely to be the last word on the topic!
7. Richard J. A. Buggs. (2008) Perspective: Towards natural polyploid model organisms. Molecular Ecology 17:1875-1876
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A short summary of the current prospects for good model organisms for the study of polyploidy (presence of more than two genome sets in the cells of an organism). The best models will be natural species whose evolution is traceable in detail, and should also have abundant genetic sequence data available on public databases. This was an invited perspective on a research paper in the same Issue documenting a newly discovered polyploid species.
6. Richard J. A. Buggs. (2007) Empirical study of hybrid zone movement. Heredity 99:301-312
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This reviews many cases of hybrid zone movement in both plant and animal systems. Hybrid zones occur when the geographic ranges of two closely-related species meet and hybridise. Movements can occur under a variety of conditions. I argue that these provide excellent examples of evolution in action, and also raise important issues for species conservation. This paper develops several new and old ideas, perhaps the most significant being that introgression of genetic markers can be used to trace past movements. I wrote this paper independently in the time between graduating with my doctorate and getting my first postdoc position.
5. Richard J. A. Buggs and John R. Pannell. (2007) Ecological differentiation and diploid superiority across a moving ploidy contact zone. Evolution 61 (1): 125-140
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This second major paper from my DPhil research reports a series of reciprocal transplant experiments and glasshouse drought experiments on diploid and hexaploid Mercurialis annua. We expected to find that the hexaploid would be better adapted to the dry conditions where it is found in southern Spain, than the diploid which has a more northerly distribution. Instead we found that the diploid was better adapted than the hexaploid to all enviroments that we tested it in, and is more drought tolerant. This provides an additional reason for the movement of a hybrid zone between the two ploidal levels (see 3.)
4. Darren J. Obbard, Stephen A. Harris, Richard J. A. Buggs and John R. Pannell. (2006) Hybridization and the evolution of sexual systems and polyploidy in Mercurialis (Euphorbiaceae). Evolution 60: 1801-1815
Abstract
This is a phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Mercurialis, carried out by Darren Obbard as part of his doctoral research. I was responsible for the genome size estimates reported here.
3. Richard J. A. Buggs and John R. Pannell. (2006) Rapid displacement of a monoecious plant lineage is due to pollen swamping by a dioecious relative. Current Biology 16: 996-1000
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This was the first major paper to come from my DPhil research. It shows that when diploid and hexaploid Mercurialis annua meet, the diploids have a huge pollination advantage due to a sexual system difference with the hexaploids. This fits with historical data showing that diploids have rapidly advanced down the east coast of Spain over the past few decades. This is one of the most recent, rapid hybrid zone movements known to science.
2. Matthew J. Hegarty, Joanna M. Jones, Ian D. Wilson, Gary L. Barker, Jane A. Coghill, Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo, Guoqing Liu, Richard J. A. Buggs, Richard J. Abbott, Keith J. Edwards and Simon J. Hiscock. (2005) Development of anonymous cDNA microarrays to study changes to the Senecio floral transcriptome during hybrid speciation. Molecular Ecology 14 (8): 2493-2510
Abstract
I carried out flow cytometry in a small but crucial contribution to this work.
1. John R. Pannell, Darren J. Obbard, Richard J. A. Buggs. (2004) Polyploidy and the sexual system: what can we learn from Mercurialis annua? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82 (4): 547-560
Abstract
This provides a comprehensive review of the Mercurialis annua system, providing the background for much of the work carried out in my supervisor's lab over the next three years, including my DPhil. This was an invited paper and formed part of an Issue devoted to polyploidy.