Alumni Postdoctoral Research Associates: Betsy Arnold

Betsy Arnold (Postdoctoral Research Associate)

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Microbial Biology

Department of Biology
Duke University

aearnold@duke.edu

Education:
B.S., Biology, Duke University (1995)
Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona (2002)

Academic post starting January, 2005:
Assistant Professor, Division of Plant Pathology and Microbiology
Curator, Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium
Department of Plant Sciences
1140 E. South Campus Drive
Forbes Building, Room 303
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

Temporary contact numbers:
Phone: 520.621.1977
Fax: 520.621.7186

Awards:
Awards of merit
2002 Gentry Award, Best Student Paper, Association for Tropical Biology
2000 Second award, Best Student Paper, Asian Mycological Congress
1999 Outstanding Graduate Student, EEB, University of Arizona

International fellowships
2001 One-year fellowship, PEO International Scholar Award

Intramural fellowships
2001 One-year fellowship, RTG in Biological Diversification, Univ. Arizona
1996 One-year fellowship, RTG in Biological Diversification, Univ. Arizona

Small awards for research and travel
2000-2002 Travel awards, annually, Grad. Council, Univ. Arizona
2001, 2002 Travel awards, annually, EEB, Univ. Arizona
2001 Travel grant, Association for Tropical Biology
1998, 1999 Small grants, RTG in Biological Diversification, Univ. Arizona
1997 Graduate Research Grant, American Society of Plant Taxonomists

Research Interests:
Diversity, ecology, and evolution of fungal endophytes
Evolutionary ecology of plant-fungus interactions
Fungal systematics and evolution
Molecuar ecology
Community ecology
Tropical biology

Photo: A. E. Arnold Botryosphaeriaceous endophyte of Laetia thamnia, a tropical treelet

Current Research:
Active projects

Phylogenetic diversity of tropical foliar endophytes: a multilocus approach to integrate endophytes into Ascomycota phylogeny

Implications of fungal endophytes for host plant defense, defensive chemistry, and gene expression in woody plants

Diversity and species composition of foliar endophytes associated with Magnolia grandiflora, with special reference to isolation media, unculturable endophytes, and molecular diversity

Diversity, species composition, and evolution of cryptic lichenicolous fungi associated with selected species of Peltigera, with J. Miadlikowska, V. Hofstetter, and F. Lutzoni

Maintenance of endophytic symbioses under altered environmental conditions, esp. with regard to elevated atmospheric CO2; with R.L. Eells, D.A. Henk, F. Lutzoni, and R. Vilgalys.

Diversity and demographic effects of seedborne and seed-infecting fungi for neotropical Cecropia, with J.Dalling and R. Gallery.

Grants:
2004-2006 NSF Collaborative Research Grant, with J.W. Dalling
2003-2004 NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology
1999-2002 NSF Doctoral Diss. Improvement Grant, with L.A. McDade
1998-2001 NSF Three-year Graduate Research Fellowship

Publications:
Peer-reviewed:

Arnold, A.E., L.C. Mejía, D.A. Kyllo, E.I. Rojas, Z. Maynard, N.A. Robbins and E.A. Herre. In press. Fungal endophytes limit pathogen damage in a tropical tree. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).

Arnold, A.E. and L.C. Lewis. In press. Ecology and evolution of fungal endophytes, and their roles against insects. Ecological and Evolutionary Advances in Insect-Fungus Associations (F. Vega and M. Blackwell, eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Lutzoni F, Kauff F, Cox C, McLaughlin D, Celio G, Dentinger B, Padamsee M, Hibbett D, James TY, Baloch E, Grube M, Reeb V, Hofstetter V, Schoch C, Arnold AE, Miadlikowska J, Spatafora J, Johnson D, Hambleton S, Crockett M, Shoemaker R, Sung GH, Lücking R, Lumbsch T, O’Donnell K, Binder M, Diederich P, Ertz D, Gueidan C, Hall B, Hansen K, Harris RC, Hosaka K, Lim YW, Liu Y, Matheny B, Nishida H, Pfister D, Rogers J, Rossman A, Schmitt I, Sipman H, Stone J, Sugiyama J, Yahr R, Vilgalys R, (2004). Assembling the fungal tree of life: progress, classification, and evolution of subcellular traits. American Journal of Botany 91: 1446-1480.

Arnold, A.E. Ubiquity, abundance, and richness of foliar endophytes: consistency among diverse woody hosts in a lowland tropical forest. Submitted 12/2004, Microbial Ecology.

Eells, R.L., D.A. Henk, A.E. Arnold, F. Lutzoni and R. Vilgalys. Assessing diversity of foliar fungal endophytes in a loblolly pine plantation. Submitted 12/2004, American Naturalist.

Arnold, A.E. and E.A. Herre. 2003. Canopy cover and leaf age affect colonization by tropical fungal endophytes: Ecological pattern and process in Theobroma cacao (Malvaceae). Mycologia 95: 388-398

Arnold, A.E. and N.M. Asquith. 2002. Herbivory in a fragmented tropical forest: patterns from islands at Lago Gatún, Panamá. Biodiversity and Conservation 11: 1663-1680.

Arnold, A.E., Z. Maynard and G. Gilbert. 2001. Fungal endophytes in dicotyledonous neotropical trees: patterns of abundance and diversity. Mycological Research 105: 1502-1507.

Arnold, A.E., Z. Maynard, G. Gilbert, P.D. Coley and T.A. Kursar. 2000. Are tropical fungal endophytes hyperdiverse? Ecology Letters 3:267-274.

Asquith, N.M., J. Terborgh, A.E. Arnold and M. Riveros-C. 1999. The fruits the agouti ate: Hymenaea courbaril seed fate when its disperser is absent. Evidence from Lago Guri, Venezuela. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:229-235.

Technical reports and other publications:

Arnold, A.E. In press. Fungal endophytes in tropical forests: a case study for assessing biodiversity of tropical microfungi. Current Trends in Mycological Research (S. Deshmukh, ed.). Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Van Bael, S.A., Z. Maynard, N. Robbins, J. Bischoff, A.E. Arnold, L.C. Mejía, D.A. Kyllo and E.A. Herre. In press. Emerging perspectives in the ecology of tropical fungal endophytes. Title TBA, J. White, editor.

Herre, E. A., Van Bael, S.A., Z. Maynard, N. Robbins, J. Bischoff, R. Cordero, A.E. Arnold, L.C. Mejía, D.A. Kyllo. In press. Tropical plants as chimera. Title TBA.

Mejia, L. C., E. Rojas, Z. Maynard, A.E. Arnold, D. Kyllo, N. Robbins, and E.A. Herre. 2003. Inoculation of beneficial endophytic fungi into Theobroma cacao tissues. In Proceedings of the 14th International Cocoa Research Conference, Accra-Ghana.

Arnold, A. E. 2001. Fungal endophytes in neotropical trees: Abundance, diversity, and ecological interactions. In Tropical Ecosystems: Structure, Diversity and Human Welfare (K. N. Ganeshaiah, R. Uma Shaanker, & K. S. Bawa, eds.). Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi: pp. 739-743.

Arnold, A. E., L. Mejía, E. Rojas, Z. Maynard, N. Robbins and E. A. Herre. 2001. Organismos endofíticos: Microorganismos en plantas. (Endophytic organisms: microorganisms in plants.) El Uso de Microorganismos Benéficos en la Agricultura Moderna. Universidad E.A.R.T.H., Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica.

Arnold, A.E. 1999. Fungal endophytes of tropical trees: methods and potential for biological control of fungal pathogens of cocoa. Proceedings of the Research Methodology of Biocontrol of Plant Diseases Workshop, San Jose: CATIE.

Arnold, A.E. 1999. Sustainable cocoa: the fungal community component. American Cocoa Research Institute’s Features in Integrated Pest Management for Cocoa: Online, at http://www.oardc.ohiostate.edu/cocoa/main_ftr.htm.