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Dr R. Joel Duff
Associate Professor
Office: ASEC C305
Lab: ASEC C313
Email: rjduff
Phone: (330) 972-6077
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Molecular Systematics and Evolution
I am currently working in collaboration with Dr. Karen Renzaglia (Southern Illinois University) on a systematic examination of hornwort relationships. Additional projects in my lab involve using molecular biological tools to explore gene flow in clamshrimp and basic taxonomic studies of eukaryotic microorganisms in lake Erie.
More recently we have been exploring aspects of a peculiar aspect of land plant organelle genes called RNA editing. Using sequence data generated for phylogeny reconstruction we have been able to explore some aspects of the evolution and function of RNA editing in simple land plants. Presently, we are looking for ways to expand our work to look at the effects of RNA editing on translation and the resultant protein structure.
Education
1995. Ph.D. – Molecular systematics and evolution. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Botany.
Dissertation: Restriction site variation and structural analysis of the chloroplast DNA of Isoetes in North America. Advisor: Dr. Edward E. Schilling.
1991. M.S. - Botany. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Department of Botany.
Thesis: An electrophoretic study of two closely related species of Isoetes L. from the southern Appalachians. Advisor: Dr. A. Murray Evans.
1989. B.S. - Biology. Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Selected Publications
Wood, A. J. and R. J. Duff. 2009 (March). The aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) gene superfamily of the moss Physcomitrella patens and the algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Osteococcus tauri. The Bryologist. 112(1): 1-11.
Ford, C.S, K. L. Ayres, N. Toomey, N. Haider, J. Van Alphen Stahl, L.J. Kelly, N. Wikstrom, P.M. Hollingsworth, R. J. Duff, S. B. Hoot, R. S. Cowan, M.W. Chase, M.J. Wilkinson. 2009 (Jan). Selection of candidate coding DNA barcoding regions for use on land plants. Bot. J. Linnean Soc. 159: 1-11.
R. Joel Duff. 2008 (Sept). Flood geology’s abominable mystery. Perspect. Sci. Christ. Faith. 60(3): 162-171.
Renzaglia, K. S., J. C. Villarreal A., and R. Joel Duff. 2008 (December). New insights into morphology, anatomy, and systematics of hornworts. In “Bryophyte Biology, Vol II” (Eds. Shaw and Goffinett). 2008. Cambridge MA.
R. Joel Duff, H. Ball, and P. J. Lavrentyev. 2008 (July). Application of combined morphological-molecular approaches to the identification of planktonic protists from environmental samples. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 55(4): 306-312.
Duff, R. Joel., J. C. Villarreal, D. C. Cargill, and K. S. Renzaglia. 2007. Progress and challenges toward developing a phylogeny and classification of the hornworts. The Bryologist
Duff. R. Joel, Benvenuto, C. Branch T and S.C. Weeks. 2007. DNA extraction from resting cysts of the conchostracan shrimp Eulimnadia texana (Crustacea, Banchiopoda, Spinicaudata). Journal Crustacean Biology, 27: 154-157.
Qiu, Yin-Long, …R. J. Duff. et al. 2006. The Deepest Divergences in Land Plants Inferred from Phylogenomic Evidence. PNAS 103(42): 15511-15516.
Liu, Q, R. J. Duff, B. Liu, A. Wilson, S. Babb-Clendenon, J Francl, and J. Marrs. 2006. Expression of cadherin10, a type II classic cadherin gene, in the nervous system of the embryonic zebrafish. Gene Expression Patterns.
R. Joel Duff. 2006. Divergent RNA editing frequencies in hornwort mitochondrial nad5 sequences. Gene 366: 285-291.
R. Joel Duff and Francisco Moore. 2005. Pervasive RNA Editing Inferred among Hornwort rbcL transcripts except Leiosporoceros. Journal of Molecular Evolution. 61: 571-578.
Duff, R. Joel, C. Cargill, J. C. Villarreal and K. S. Renzaglia. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships of the hornworts based on rbcL sequence data: novel relationships and new insights. Monographs of the Annals Missouri Botanical Garden. 98: 41-58.
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