Teaching

BOT 3005 Field Botany, fall semesters.  Prerequisite: BIOL 1114.  Botanical field techniques, the vegetation of North America, and the flora of Oklahoma. Terminology of description, use of taxonomic keys, techniques of specimen preservation, field recognition of plant taxa and communities and controlling ecological factors, economic and wildlife significance of dominant taxa, principles of classification and nomenclature. Four weekend field trips required.

Research

The overarching context of my research program is to bridge the understanding that ecologists and evolutionary biologists have gained about how evolution operates within populations and the understanding that systematists and evolutionary biologists have gained about the patterns of biodiversity observed at large spatial and temporal scales. In pursuit of my research goals, I have conducted intensive studies on the phylogenetic relationships of milkweeds (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae), selection on floral traits by pollinators, the dynamics of hybridization driven by variation in floral scent chemistry, and the evolution of defenses against herbivory. My approach emphasizes (1) phylogenetics analyses of plant lineages and (2) the inference and hypothesis testing of evolutionary and ecological processes that produce biological diversity.

Recent Publications

Stoepler, T. M., A. Edge, A. Steel, R. L. O'Quinn, and M. Fishbein. 2012. Differential pollinator effectiveness and importance in a milkweed (Asclepias, Apocynaceae) hybrid zone. American Journal of Botany 99:448-458.

Straub, S. C. K., M. Parks, K. Weitemier, M. Fishbein, R.C. Cronn, and A. Liston. 2012. Navigating the tip of the genomic iceberg: Next-generation sequencing for plant systematics. American Journal of Botany 99(1):1-16.

Straub, S. C. K., M. Fishbein, T. Livshultz, Z. Foster, M. Parks, K. Weitemier, R. C. Cronn, and A. Liston. 2011. Building a model: Developing genomic resources for common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) with low coverage genome sequencing. BMC Genomics 12:211.

Fishbein, M., D. Chuba, C. Ellison, R. Mason-Gamer, and S .P. Lynch. 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of Asclepias (Apocynaceae) inferred from non-coding chloroplast DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 36(4):1008-1023.

Cook, D., A. M. Rimando, T. E. Clemente, J. Schröder, F. E. Dayan, N. P. Dhammika Nanayakkara, Z. Pan, B. P. Noonan, M. Fishbein, I. Abe, S. O. Duke, and S. R. Baerson. 2010. Alkylresorcinol synthases expressed in Sorghum bicolor root hairs play an essential role in the biosynthesis of the allelopathic benzoquinone sorgoleone. Plant Cell 22:867-887.

Fishbein, M., S. R. Kephart, M. Wilder, K. M. Halpin, and S. L. Datwyler. 2010. Phylogeny of Camassia (Agavaceae) inferred from plastid rp116 intron and trnD-trnY-trnE-trnT intergenic spacer DNA sequences: Implications for species delimitation. Systematic Botany 35(1):77-85.

Agrawal, A. A., M. Fishbein, R. Halitschke, A. P. Hastings, D. Rabosky, and S. Rasmann. 2009. Tempo of trait evolution in the milkweeds: evidence for adaptive radiation. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA 106:18067-18072 (special feature).

O’Quinn, R. L., and M. Fishbein. 2009. Isolation, characterization and cross-species amplification of polymorphic microsatellite loci in Asclepias (Apocynaceae). Conservation Genetics 10:1437-1440.

Agrawal, A. A., M. Fishbein, R. Jetter, J.-P. Salminen, J. B. Goldstein, A. E. Freitag, and J. P. Sparks. 2009. Phylogenetic ecology of leaf surface traits in the milkweeds (Asclepias spp.): chemistry, ecophysiology, and insect behavior. New Phytologist 183:848-867.

Agrawal, A. A., J.-P. Salminen, and M. Fishbein. 2009. Phylogenetic trends in phenolic metabolism of milkweeds (Asclepias): evidence for escalation. Evolution 63:663-673.

Agrawal, A. A., and M. Fishbein. 2008. Phylogenetic escalation and decline of plant defense strategies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105:10057-10060.

Fishbein, M. and V. W. SteMarch 7, 2012ctaginaceae), a striking four-o’clock endemic to the Sierra de Coalcomán, Michoacán, México. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 2:547-550.

Agrawal, A. A., M. J. Lajeunesse, and M. Fishbein. 2008. Evolution of latex and its constituent defensive chemistry in milkweeds (Asclepias). Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 128:126-138.

Fishbein, M. , V. Juárez-Jaimes, and L. O. Alvarado-Cárdenas. 2008. Resurrection of Asclepias schaffneri (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae), a rare, Mexican milkweed. Madroño 55:69-75.

Baerson, S. R., F. E. Dayan, A. M. Rimando, N. P. Dhammika Nanayakkara, C.-J. Liu, J. Schröder, M. Fishbein, Z. Pan, I. A. Kagan, L. H. Pratt, M.-M. Cordonnier-Pratt, and S. O. Duke. 2008. A functional genomics investigation of allelochemical biosynthesis in Sorghum bicolor root hairs. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283:3231-3247.

Fishbein, M. 2008. A new, diminutive, Mexican milkweed (Asclepias, Apocynaceae sensu lato). Novon 18:43-47.

Pan, Z., A. M. Rimando, S. R. Baerson, M. Fishbein, and S. O. Duke. 2007. Functional characterization of desaturases involved in the formation of the terminal double bond of an unusual 16:3 D 9,12,15 fatty acid isolated from Sorghum bicolor root hairs. Journal of Biological Chemistry 282:4326-4335.

 

For a complete publication list see here.