Martin F. Wojciechowski
Plant Systematics and Macroevolution
Marty Wojciechowski received his doctoral degree in microbiology and conducted postdoctoral studies on molecular carcinogenesis and inducible systems for DNA repair/recombination in bacteria at the Michigan Molecular Institute (NIH Fellowship) and the University of Rochester Medical School. He has held an adjunct faculty position at the University of Arizona, a Visiting Scholar appointment at the University of California, Davis, Museum Scientist (Museum of Paleontology) and Research Botanist (University/Jepson Herbaria) positions at the University of California, Berkeley, before coming to Arizona State University in August of 2001.
My research interests are focused on understanding the evolution of green plants using a comparative approach. I am interested primarily in the molecular systematics and evolution of the agriculturally/ecologically important angiosperm family Fabaceae (the "legumes" - pea, beans, clovers, locoweeds), other seed plant groups, and I maintain an interest in conceptual and theoretical issues related to phylogeny reconstruction. My research program utilizes phylogenies derived largely from molecular sequences as a framework to understand phylogenetic relationships at different taxonomic levels, estimate ages and divergence times of clades, comparisons of rates of organismal diversification and molecular evolution. In addition to focusing on specific taxa to understand more about their biology and evolutionary history, my goal in addressing evolutionary questions at the molecular level is to understand the processes that generate as well as constrain macroevolutionary patterns in morphological, developmental, and gene/genomic characters in plants from a broader perspective. Examples of projects going on in my laboratory include studies of the i) phylogenetics of legumes with particular emphasis on temperate papilionoid (subfamily Papilionoideae) groups which include genera such as Astragalus, Medicago, Robinia, and Sesbania; ii) the biogeography and diversification of legume groups endemic to North America and the Neotropics; iii) co-evolution of rhizobia and legumes using molecular phylogenetic approach; and iv) development of specific nuclear genes for phylogeny reconstruction.
Selected Publications
Wojciechowski, MF. 2005. Astragalus (Fabaceae): a molecular phylogenetic perspective. Brittonia, in press.
Lavin, M, PS Herendeen, and MF Wojciechowski. 2005. Evolutionary rates analysis of Leguminosae implicates a rapid diversification of lineages during the Tertiary. Systematic Biology 54: 530-549.
Wojciechowski, MF, M Lavin, and MJ Sanderson. 2004. A phylogeny of legume s (Leguminosae) based on analysis of the plastid mat K gene resolves many well-supported subclades within the family. American J. Botany 91: 1846-1862.
Ickert-Bond, SM, and MF Wojciechowski. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships in Ephedra (Gnetales): evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data. Systematic Botany 29: 834-849.
Wojciechowski, M. F. 2003. Reconstructing the phylogeny of legumes (Leguminosae): an early 21 st century perspective. In Advances in Legume Systematics , part 10, Higher Level Systematics , B. B. Klitgaard and A. Bruneau (eds.), pp. 5-35. Royal Botanic Gardens , Kew .
Lavin, M, MF Wojciechowski, A Richman, J Rotella, MJ Sanderson, and A Beyra Matos. 2001. Identifying Tertiary radiations of Fabaceae in the Greater Antilles : alternatives to cladistic vicariance analysis. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: S53-S76.
Wojciechowski, MF, MJ Sanderson, KP Steele, and A Liston. 2000. Molecular phylogeny of the "temperate herbaceous tribes" of papilionoid legumes: a supertree approach. In Advances in Legume Systematics , part 9, P. S. Herendeen and A. Bruneau (eds.), pp. 277-298. Royal Botanic Garden , Kew .
Sanderson, MJ, and MF Wojciechowski. 2000. Improved bootstrap confidence limits in large-scale phylogenies, with an example from Neo-Astragalus (Leguminosae). Systematic Biology 49:671-685.
Hu, J-M, M Lavin, MF Wojciechowski, and MJ Sanderson. 2000. Phylogenetic systematics of the tribe Millettieae (Leguminosae) based on matK sequences, and implications for evolutionary patterns in Papilionoideae. American J Botany 87:418-430.
Sanderson, MJ, MF Wojciechowski, J-M Hu, T Sher Khan, and SG Brady. 2000. Error, bias and long branch attraction in data for two chloroplast photosystem genes in seed plants. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17:782-797.
Wojciechowski, MF, MJ Sanderson, and J-M Hu. 1999. Evidence on the monophyly of Astragalus (Fabaceae) and its major subgroups based on nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS and chloroplast DNA trnL intron data. Systematic Botany 24:409-437.
Campbell, CS, MF Wojciechowski, BG Baldwin, LA Alice, and MJ Donoghue. 1997. Persistent nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence polymorphism in the Amelanchier (Rosaceae) agamic complex. Molecular Biology and Evolution 14:81-90.
Sanderson, MJ, and MF Wojciechowski. 1996. Diversification rates in a temperate legume clade: Are there "so many species" of Astragalus (Fabaceae)? American J Botany 83:1488-1502.