Anna O'Brien
My research focuses on plant interactions with their microbiomes in the context of global change stressors. I consider how evolutionary dynamics in plant-microbe interactions alter responses to stressors, and the reciprocal: how adaptation to stressors might modify plant-microbe interactions. I make use of sequencing and epigenetic sequencing, population and quantitative genetics tools, genetic evolutionary modeling, and experimentation to investigate these topics.
Courses Taught
- GEN 713/813: Microbial Ecology & Evolution
- MCBS 997: Seminar
Selected Publications
O'Brien, A. M., Yu, Z. H., Pencer, C., Frederickson, M. E., LeFevre, G. H., & Passeport, E. (2022). Harnessing plant-microbiome interactions for bioremediation across a freshwater urbanization gradient. WATER RESEARCH, 223. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2022.118926
O'Brien, A. M., Ginnan, N. A., Rebolleda-Gomez, M., & Wagner, M. R. (2021). Microbial effects on plant phenology and fitness. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 108(10), 1824-1837. doi:10.1002/ajb2.1743
O'Brien, A. M., Jack, C. N., Friesen, M. L., & Frederickson, M. E. (2021). Whose trait is it anyways? Coevolution of joint phenotypes and genetic architecture in mutualisms. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 288(1942). doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.2483
Batstone, R. T., O'Brien, A. M., Harrison, T. L., & Frederickson, M. E. (2020). Experimental evolution makes microbes more cooperative with their local host genotype. SCIENCE, 370(6515), 476-478. doi:10.1126/science.abb7222
O'Brien, A. M., Yu, Z. H., Luo, D. -Y., Laurich, J., Passeport, E., & Frederickson, M. E. (2020). Resilience to multiple stressors in an aquatic plant and its microbiome. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 107(2), 273-285. doi:10.1002/ajb2.1404
O'Brien, A. M., Sawers, R. J. H., Strauss, S. Y., & Ross-Ibarra, J. (2019). Adaptive phenotypic divergence in an annual grass differs across biotic contexts. EVOLUTION, 73(11), 2230-2246. doi:10.1111/evo.13818
O'Brien, A. M., Sawers, R. J. H., Ross-Ibarra, J., & Strauss, S. Y. (2018). Evolutionary Responses to Conditionality in Species Interactions across Environmental Gradients. AMERICAN NATURALIST, 192(6), 715-730. doi:10.1086/700118