Jeanne Romero-Severson • Faculty • Department of Biological Science • College of Science • University of Notre Dame

Quantitative and Population Genetics

Jeanne Romero-Severson

Associate Professor
Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1984

e-mail | labpage

The Romero-Severson research program focuses on population genetics and genomics in natural populations and the use of genetics and genomics to identify natural sources of resistance to the infectious diseases and insect pests that attack native oaks. Specific projects include

Comparative genomics in insects of medical and agricultural importance
Identification of genes that confer resistance to sudden oak death
Insect-plant interactions
Identification of genes that control cellular identity in Arabidopsis thaliana

Phytophthora ramorum, the agent of sudden oak death, poses a grave threat to the red oak woodland ecosystems of California and the deciduous forest ecosystems of North America, where red oaks are the dominant species. Quercus rubra (northern red oak), the red oak with the widest range and the highest economic value, is highly susceptible to sudden oak death. Our oak study sites range from Isle Royale in Lake Superior to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.

Recent Publications

Henderson JT, H-C Li, S.D. Rider, A.P. Mordhorst, J. Romero-Severson, J-C Cheng, J Robey, ZR Sung, SC de Vries, J Ogas. 2004 Pickle acts throughout the plant to repress expression of embryonic traits and may play a role in gibberellin-dependent responses. Plant Physiology 134: 995-1005.

Aldrich P.R., M. Jagtap, C.H. Michler, J. Romero-Severson. 2003. Amplification of North American Red Oak Microsatellite Markers in European White Oaks and Chinese Chestnut. Silvae Genetica. 52(3-4):176-179.

Lobo N.F, L.Q. Ton, C.A. Hill, C. Emore, J. Romero-Severson, G.J. Hunt, F.H. Collins. 2003. Genomic Analysis in the sting-2 Quantitative Trait Locus for Defensive Behavior in the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera. Genome Res. 13:2588-2593

Aldrich P.R., G. R. Parker, C. H. Michler, J. Romero-Severson. 2003 Whole-tree silvic identifications and the microsatellite genetic structure of a red oak species complex in an Indiana old-growth forest. Can.J Forest Res 33:2228-2237

Pedra J.H.F. , A. Brandt, H-M. Li, R. Westerman, J. Romero-Severson, R. Pollack, L.L. Murdock and B.R. Pittendrigh. 2003 Transcriptome identification of putative genes involved in protein catabolism and innate immune response in human body louse (Pediculicidae: Pediculus humanus) Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 33(11):1135-43.

Rider S.D., J.T. Henderson, R.E. Jerome, H.J. Edenberg, J. Romero-Severson, J.P.Ogas. 2003 Coordinate repression of regulators of embryonic identity by pickle during germination in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal 35 (1): 33-43

Lu H., J. Romero-Severson , R. Bernardo 2003 Genetic basis of heterosis explored by simple sequence repeat markers in a random-mated maize population. Theor Appl Genet 107 (3): 494-502

Pedra J.H.F. Pedra, A.Brandt, R. Westerman, N. Lobo, H-M. Li, J. Romero-Severson, L.L. Murdock and B.R. Pittendrigh. 2003 Transcriptome analysis of the cowpea weevil bruchid: identification of putative proteinases and a-amylases associated with food breakdown. Insect Molecular Biology 12 (4): 405-412

Romero-Severson J., P.R. Aldrich, Y. Feng, W. Sun, C. Michler. 2003 Chloroplast DNA variation of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) in Indiana. New Forests 26:43-49

Feder, J.L. J. Roethele, K. Fichak, J. Niebdalski, J. Romero-Severson. 2003 Evidence for inversion polymorphism related to sympatric host race formation in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella. Genetics 163: 939-953

Sharakhov IV, Serazin AC, Grushko OG, Dana A, Lobo N, Hillenmeyer ME, Westerman R, Romero-Severson J, Costantini C, Sagnon N, Collins FH, Besansky NJ. 2002 Inversions and gene order shuffling in Anopheles gambiae and A. funestus. 2002 Science 298(5591):182-5

Aldrich P.R., C. Michler, W. Sun, J. Romero-Severson. 2002 Microsatellite markers for northern red oak (Fagaceae: Quercus rubra). Molecular Ecology Notes 2:472-475

Lu H, J. Romero-Severson, R. Bernardo. 2002 Segregation Distortion: Chromosomal regions in maize and effects on linkage mapping. Theor. Appl. Genet. 105: 622-628

Feder J.L. , J. Roethele, K. Fichak, J. Romero-Severson. 2001 Evidence for inversions and coadaptation related to sympatric host race formation in the apple maggot fly Rhagoletis pomonella. 2001 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 94: 936-947.