Biological Sciences
Dr. Hector Quemada
Adjunct Professor
E-mail: hector.quemada@wmich.edu
Research Description
Area of Research: Plant biotechnology
My research involves the study of the consequences of gene flow between agricultural crops and related weedy species with which those crops can interbreed. This research is being conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wisconsin, and at the Cucurbit Network in Miami, Florida. Our study system is cultivated and free-living squash (Cucurbita pepo) in wild and weedy habitats. While we are studying the effect of transgenes (specifically those conferring virus resistance), the results of our research are not unique to these types of genes.We have surveyed populations of C. pepo in wild and weedy habitats to assess the amount of disease and therefore the extent of selection pressure favoring a gene introduced to wild/weedy populations. We have also conducted field experiments to assess the extent to which diseases, specifically viruses, affect fitness under a variety of ecological conditions.