Characterization of transposable elements (jumping genes) in the oak genome.  The study of transposon evolution is an exciting area of research that has been understudied in angiosperms. Transposons are mobile genetic elements that replicate via reverse transcription or directly by a cut-and-paste mechanism.  Studies of plant transposons have shown that they are a very important source genetic variation; yet, their diversity and their patterns of evolution have been carried out in only a handful of plant species.  To achieve a better understanding of the evolutionary forces acting on transposons, I am interested in identifying and characterizing them in the oak genome.  Once this information is available, I intend to expand this study to other plant taxa, and to apply methods of comparative genomics to gain insight into the underlying evolutionary mechanisms of these DNA sequences.  Using a PCR-based approach, I have successfully isolated the Enhancer/Supressor-mutator (En/Spm) transposable elements from oak species.  Subsequent steps will involve the cloning, sequencing, and DNA sequence analysis of these mobile elements.  Knowledge on the patterns and processes of transposons will enhance our understanding of the evolution of plant genomes.