Dr. Lena Hileman

Lena Hileman
  • Professor
  • Chair, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Professor
  • Chair of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Research Interests: Floral Evolution, Plant Development, Plant Evolutionary Genomics

Contact Info

Office Phone:
785-864-5861
Department Phone:
785-864-5887
Office: Haworth Hall 8003

Personal Links

Biography —

Dr. Hileman was a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Vivian Irish's lab at Yale University. In the Irish lab, she studied the developmental genetics of floral patterning in poppies and tomato. Before becoming a postdoc, she received her Ph.D. from the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismic Biology at Harvard University where she studied with Dr. David Baum (not at University of Wisconsin, Maddison) and Dr. Elena Kramer. Her dissertation research addressed the role of symmetry genes in shaping floral diversification. Her B.S. and M.A. degrees are from San Francisco State University where she worked with Dr. V. Thomas Parker to better understand relationships within a chaparral lineage in the flowering plant family Ericaceae.

Research —

Why is there such an amazing diversity of flower form? One reason is that flowers have been shaped over evolutionary time by selective pressures imposed through plant-pollinator interactions. However, in order for different floral forms to evolve, changes must occur in the underlying genetic programs that specify flower developmental patterning. The aim of my research program is to determine how developmental programs have evolved to pattern differences in flower form between species; for example, through changes in gene number, gene expression, or protein function. This field of research is called developmental evolution or "evo-devo". To address questions of flower developmental evolution, we take a number of diverse approaches including phylogenetic studies, molecular developmental genetic approaches, and studies of molecular evolution.

Research interests:

  • Flower development and evolution
  • evolution of developmental gene networks
  • parallel evolution
  • epigenetic inheritance of ecologically important traits

Teaching —

Teaching interests:

  • Evolution
  • Development
  • Plant Biology

Selected Publications —

<div class="fp-publications fp-container"><div class="aca-article">Wessinger, C., Hileman, L. (2016). Accessibility, constraint, and repetition in adaptive floral evolution. Developmental Biology - Issue 1 | Volume 419. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.YDBIO.2016.05.003">https://doi.org/10.1016/J… class="aca-article">O'Meara, B., Smith, S., Armbruster, W., Harder, L., Hardy, C., Hileman, L., Hufford, L., Litt, A., Magallón, S., Smith, S., Stevens, P., Fenster, C., Diggle, P. (2016). Non-equilibrium dynamics and floral trait interactions shape extant angiosperm diversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Issue 1830 | Volume 283. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/RSPB.2015.2304">https://doi.org/10.1098/RSPB.20… class="aca-article">Wessinger, C., Freeman, C., Mort, M., Rausher, M., Hileman, L. (2016). Multiplexed shotgun genotyping resolves species relationships within the North American genus Penstemon. American Journal of Botany - Issue 5 | Volume 103. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3732/AJB.1500519">https://doi.org/10.3732/AJB.150051… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Jorgensen, S., Orozco, R., Hileman, L. (2016). Paralogous SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes differentially regulate leaf initiation and reproductive phase change in petunia. Planta - Issue 2 | Volume 243. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/S00425-015-2413-2">https://doi.org/10.1007/S004… class="aca-article">Colicchio, J., Miura, F., Kelly, J., Ito, T., Hileman, L. (2015). DNA methylation and gene expression in Mimulus guttatus. BMC Genomics - Issue 1 | Volume 16. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/S12864-015-1668-0">https://doi.org/10.1186/S128… class="aca-article">Colicchio, J., Monnahan, P., Kelly, J., Hileman, L. (2015). Gene expression plasticity resulting from parental leaf damage in M imulus guttatus. New Phytologist - Issue 2 | Volume 205. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/NPH.13081">https://doi.org/10.1111/NPH.13081</a… class="aca-article">Hileman, L. (2014). Trends in flower symmetry evolution revealed through phylogenetic and developmental genetic advances. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Issue 1648 | Volume 369. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTB.2013.0348">https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTB.20… class="aca-article">Wessinger, C., Hileman, L., Rausher, M. (2014). Identification of major quantitative trait loci underlying floral pollination syndrome divergence in Penstemon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - Issue 1648 | Volume 369. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTB.2013.0349">https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTB.20… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Barnett, L., Kost, M., Oborny, N., Hileman, L. (2014). Optimization of Virus-induced Gene Silencing to Facilitate Evo-devo Studies in the Emerging Model Species Mimulus guttatus (Phrymaceae) 1. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden - Issue 3 | Volume 99. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3417/2010120">https://doi.org/10.3417/2010120</a>.</… class="aca-article">Hileman, L. (2014). Bilateral flower symmetry—how, when and why?. Current Opinion in Plant Biology - Volume 17. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PBI.2013.12.002">https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PB… class="aca-article">Brockington, S., Alvarez-Fernandez, R., Landis, J., Alcorn, K., Walker, R., Thomas, M., Hileman, L., Glover, B. (2013). Evolutionary Analysis of the MIXTA Gene Family Highlights Potential Targets for the Study of Cellular Differentiation. Molecular Biology and Evolution - Issue 3 | Volume 30. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss260">https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/m… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Hileman, L. (2013). Functional Evolution in the Plant SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) Gene Family. Frontiers in Plant Science - Volume 4. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/FPLS.2013.00080">https://doi.org/10.3389/FPLS.2… class="aca-article">Landis, J., Barnett, L., Hileman, L. (2012). Evolution of petaloid sepals independent of shifts in B-class MADS box gene expression. Development Genes and Evolution - Issue 1 | Volume 222. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/S00427-011-0385-1">https://doi.org/10.1007/S004… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Hileman, L. (2012). Parallel evolution of TCP and B-class genes in Commelinaceae flower bilateral symmetry. EvoDevo - Issue 1 | Volume 3. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/2041-9139-3-6">https://doi.org/10.1186/2041-913… class="aca-article">Scoville, A., Barnett, L., Bodbyl‐Roels, S., Bodbyl‐Roels, S., Bodbyl-Roels, S., Kelly, J., Hileman, L. (2011). Differential regulation of a MYB transcription factor is correlated with transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of trichome density in Mimulus guttatus. New Phytologist - Issue 1 | Volume 191. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03656.x">https://doi.org/10.11… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Hileman, L., Cubas, P. (2011). Reduce, reuse, and recycle: Developmental evolution of trait diversification. American Journal of Botany - Issue 3 | Volume 98. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1000279">https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.100027… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Hileman, L. (2010). SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN 1 initiates flowering in Antirrhinum majus through the activation of meristem identity genes: Flowering time in snapdragon. Plant Journal - Issue 4 | Volume 62. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2010.04184.x">https://doi.org/10.11… class="aca-article">Preston, J., Kost, M., Hileman, L. (2009). Conservation and diversification of the symmetry developmental program among close relatives of snapdragon with divergent floral morphologies. New Phytologist - Issue 3 | Volume 182. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02794.x">https://doi.org/10.11…;