Marc Johnson

Jun 11, 2024 | biorxiv.org | David Murray-Stoker |Laura Rossi |Marc Johnson

AbstractInteractions between plants and bacterial communities are essential for host physiology and broader ecosystem functioning, but plant-microbiome interactions can be disrupted by environmental change like urbanization. Here, we evaluated how urbanization affected the diversity and assembly of soil and white clover (Trifolium repens) microbiome communities. We sampled 35 populations of white clover and associated roots and soil along an urbanization gradient.

May 3, 2024 | biorxiv.org | David Murray-Stoker |James S. Santangelo |Marta Szulkin |Marc Johnson

AbstractUrbanization is an increasingly prevalent driver of environmental, ecological, and evolutionary change in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, and it is important that our sampling designs accurately capture this urban environmental change.

Apr 18, 2024 | nature.com | Marc Johnson |Jason Munshi-South |Marta Szulkin |Brian C. Verrelli |Elizabeth J. Carlen |Josefa Gonzalez | +4 more

AbstractIncreasing evidence suggests that urbanization is associated with higher mutation rates, which can affect the health and evolution of organisms that inhabit cities. Elevated pollution levels in urban areas can induce DNA damage, leading to de novo mutations.

Sep 12, 2023 | biorxiv.org | David Murray-Stoker |Marc Johnson

AbstractUrbanization frequently alters the biotic and abiotic environmental context. Variation in both the biotic and abiotic environment can result in selection mosaics that lead to locally adapted phenotypes. Ecological changes to urban environments have been found to result in evolutionary responses across a diverse array of plants and animals, but the effects of urbanization on local adaptation and coevolution between species remains largely unstudied.

Aug 18, 2023 | biorxiv.org | David Murray-Stoker |Marc Johnson

AbstractUrbanization alters many biotic and abiotic environmental factors, but the effects of urbanization on local adaptation and coevolution between species remains largely unstudied. Using a common garden experiment of 30 populations and 1080 plants, we tested for local adaptation in the mutualism between white clover (Trifolium repens) and rhizobia (Rhizobium leguminosarum symbiovar trifolii) along an urbanization gradient.