Jimmy Triplett, Ph.D.

I am a botanist with interests in plant taxonomy and phylogenetics. I use a multidisciplinary approach to study plant diversity, including the pattern and process of plant speciation and the role of hybridization and polyploidy in plant evolution. I foster a full spectrum of research in my lab and welcome student projects on all aspects of plant biology.

I teach Plant Taxonomy, Field Botany, Economic Botany, and Biodiversity, among other classes.

Much of my current work focuses on the temperate bamboos, an ecologically and economically important group that exemplifies the significance of hybridization in plant diversification. I am involved in several international collaborations and make extensive use of field work and herbarium research.

The primary objectives of my current research are: (1) to reconstruct species-level relationships (i.e., the "tree of life") using molecular and morphological data; (2) to combine phylogenetic and phylogeographic data into comprehensive natural histories of plants, especially focusing on floristic connections among species in North America and Asia; (3) to provide a framework for understanding evolution in polyploid lineages punctuated by adaptive radiation; and (4) to establish stable and predictive taxonomy based on the results of phylogenetic analyses.

Publications

Triplett, J.K., Y. Wang, J. Zhong, and E.A. Kellogg. Five nuclear loci resolve the polyploid history of switchgrass and relatives. PLoS ONE. In press.

Bennetzen, J.L, Schmutz, J., Wang, H., Percifield, R., Hawkins, J., Pontaroli, A.C., Estep, M., Feng, L., Vaughn, J.N., Grimwood, J., Jenkins, J., Barry, K., Lindquist, E., Hellsten, U., Deshpande, S., Wang, X., Wu, X., Mitros, T., Triplett, J., Yang, X., Ye, C.-Y., Mauro-Herrera, M., Wang, L., Li, P., Sharma, M., Sharma, R., Ronald, P.C., Panaud, O., Kellogg, E.A., Brutnell, T.P., Doust, A.N., Tuskan, G.A., Rokhsar, D., and Devos, K.M. 2011. Grass genome structure, evolution and adaptation uncovered by sequence analysis of Setaria. Nature Biotechnology 30: 555-561.

Liu, Q., J.K. Triplett, J. Wen, and P.M. Peterson. 2011. Allotetraploid origin and divergence in Eleusine (Chloridoideae, Poaceae): evidence from low-copy nuclear gene phylogenies and a plastid gene chronogram. Annals of Botany 108 (7) 1287–1298.

Triplett, J.K. and L.G. Clark. 2010. Phylogeny of the temperate bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) with an emphasis on Arundinaria and allies. Systematic Botany 35(1): 102-120.

Triplett, J.K., K. Oltrogge, and L.G. Clark. 2010. Phylogenetic relationships and natural hybridization among the North American woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Arundinaria). American Journal of Botany 97(3): 471-492.

Zeng, C.-X., Y.-X. Zhang, J.K. Triplett, J.-B. Yang, L.-M. Gao, and D.Z. Li. 2010. Phylogeny of the tribe Arundinarieae (Gramineae: Bambusoideae) with an emphasis on Chinese species: evidence from eight non-coding plastid regions. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution56(2): 821-839.

Fisher, A.E., J.K. Triplett, C.-S. Ho, A.D. Schiller, K.A. Oltrogge, E.S. Schroeder, S.A. Kelchner, and L. G. Clark.2009. Paraphyly in the bamboo subtribe Chusqueinae (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) and a revised infrageneric classification for Chusquea. Systematic Botany 34(4): 673-683.

Triplett, J.K. and L.G. Clark. 2009. Towards a stable nomenclature for the North American temperate bamboos: Epitypification of Arundo gigantea Walt. and Arundinaria macrosperma Michx. (Poaceae). Castanea 74(3): 207-212. Clark, L.G., S. Dransfield, J.K. Triplett, and J.G. Sánchez-Ken. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships among the one-flowered, determinate genera of Bambuseae (Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Aliso 23: 315-332.

Clark, L.G., C.D. Tyrrell, J.K. Triplett and A.E. Fisher. 2007. A new species of Chusquea sect. Verticillatae (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) from Ecuador. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 1(2): 847-851. Clark, L.G. and J.K. Triplett. 2007. Arundinaria Michx. Flora of North America, Poaceae Vol. 24: 17-20.

Triplett, J.K., A.S. Weakley, and L.G. Clark. 2006. Hill cane ( Arundinaria appalachiana), a new species of bamboo (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains. SIDA 22 (1): 79-85.