Juan Carlos Villarreal

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Doctoral Student

Office: BioPharm 312
Voice: (860) 486-6306
Fax: (860) 486-6364
E-mail: juan.villarreal@uconn.edu, jcarlos.villarreal@gmail.com

Home page: http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/goffinet/index.html

Mailing address:
75 N. Eagleville Road, U-3043
Storrs, CT 06269


DISSERTATION

Evolutionary diversification and biogeographical patterns of the Nothoceros alliance with emphasis on the phylogenetic position of the Southern Appalachian (SA) endemic and asexual hornwort Megaceros aenigmaticus. Genetic consequences of the lack of sex in the population dynamics of the SA populations. Comparison of patterns of genotypic diversity between SA populations and putative conspecific and sexually reproducing populations from tropical alpine Neotropical regions. Extinction threat and conservation implications of the lack of sex of the SA populations of this only North American member of the genus (more details soon).


CURRENT INTERESTS

Systematics, anatomy, ultrastructure, molecular evolution of hornworts (Anthocerotophyta), especially Neotropical taxa. Population genetic of asexual hornwort taxa and evolution of sex in hornworts.

Current collaborative projects

Evolution of the hornwort chloroplast, especially the ultrastructural and physiological implications of a carbon concentration mechanisms related to the presence of an algal-like pyrenoid, in collaboration with David Hanson (University of New Mexico).

Ultrastructural and evolutionary study of extant and fossil hornwort spores in collaboration with Karen Renzaglia and Scott Schuette (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) and Wilson Taylor (University of Wisconsin, St. Claire).

Symbiotic interactions between hornworts/cyanobacteria and cyanobiont specificity.

Exploratory project to DNA barcoding the bryophytes of Panama in collaboration with Laura Lowe Forrest (main PI, Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh, Scotland) and Noris Salazar Allen (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama).

Taxonomy of hornworts and online database of updated hornwort nomenclature and geographical distribution in collaboration with Christine Cargill (Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Canberra, Australia), Matt Von Konrat and Anders Hagborg (The Field Museum, Chicago, USA) as part of Early Land Plants Today - A project to unite Liverwort and Hornwort Taxonomy, Nomenclature, & Geography.


EDUCATION

University of Connecticut, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, USA. Spring 2006- Doctorate’s degree

Southern Illinois University, Department of Plant Biology, Carbondale, USA. Fall 2003- Dec. 2005

Master’s degree: Ultrastructure and evolution of hornworts with emphasis in symbiotic interactions with cyanobacteria and character evolution.

Universidad de Costa Rica & Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Costa Rica. Jan.-Feb. 2003 Graduate course in Tropical Ecology and Conservation

University of Panamá, Bachelor’s degree in Plant Biology with Major in Bryology. 1995-2003.

Humboldt Field Research Institute & University of Maine, USA. June 2001 Field undergraduate course on biosystematics of temperate bryophytes


PUBLICATIONS

Renzaglia, K.S., J.C. Villarreal & R.J. Duff. In press. New insights into morphology, anatomy and systematics of hornworts. In Bryophyte Biology II, B. Goffinet & J. Shaw (eds).

Villarreal, J.C., G. Hässel de Menéndez & N. Salazar Allen. 2007 Nothoceros superbus (Dendrocerotaceae), a new species of hornwort from the Neotropics. The Bryologist 110: 279-285.

Duff, R.J., J.C. Villarreal, D.C. Cargill & K.S. Renzaglia. 2007. Progress and challenges toward developing a phylogeny and classification of the hornworts. The Bryologist, 110: 214-243.

Villarreal, J.C. & K.S. Renzaglia. 2006. Sporophyte structure in the neotropical hornwort Phaeomegaceros fimbriatus: implications for phylogeny, taxonomy and character evolution. International Journal of Plant Sciences 167: 413-427.

Villarreal, J.C. & K.S. Renzaglia. 2006. Structure and development of Nostoc strands in Leiosporoceros dussii (Anthocerotophyta): a novel symbiosis in land plants. American Journal of Botany 93(5): 693-705. (Cover).

Dauphin, G.; T. Pócs; J. C. Villarreal & N. Salazar Allen. 2006. Nuevos Registros de Hepáticas y Anthocerotófitas para Panamá. Tropical Bryology 27: 73-85.

Cargill, D.C.; R.J. Duff, J.C. Villarreal & K.S. Renzaglia. 2005. Generic concepts in hornworts: historical review, contemporary insights and future directions. Australian Systematic Botany 18: 7-16.

Duff, R.J.; D.C. Cargill, J.C. Villarreal & K.S. Renzaglia. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships of the hornworts based on rbcL sequence data: novel relationships and new insights. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 98: 41-58. (Book chapter)


FIELD EXPERIENCE

Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela (Merida), Dominican Republic, Southern Appalachians.

REVIEWER FOR

The Bryologist; Cryptogamie, Bryologie-Lichénologie, Fieldiana, Journal of Experimental Botany