Graduate Students
Erik Ragsdale
| Program: | Ph.D. |
| Major Professor: | James Baldwin |
| E-Mail: | ragsde01@student.ucr.edu |
| Lab Location: | Boyce Hall 1443 |
Education
- B.S. Biology University of California, Riverside 2003
Research Focus
I am interested in the systematics and evolution of phylum Nematoda. My primary focus is on the evolution of feeding structures, specifically the stomatostylet of Tylenchomorpha, a group that includes most plant parasitic nematodes. To test hypotheses of homology, characters of the stomatostylet and associated structures are mapped on phylogenetic trees based on independent morphological and molecular characters, which are concomitantly being identified and analyzed.
Selected Publications
- Ragsdale, E. J., Crum, J. Ellisman, M. H., and Baldwin, J. G. 2008. Phylogenetic implications of three dimensional reconstruction of the stomatostylet and anterior epidermis in Aphenchus avenae. Journal of Morphology 269: 1181-1196.
- Subbotin, S.A., Ragsdale, E. J., Mullens, T., Roberts, P. A., Mundo-Ocampo, M., and Baldwin, J. G. 2008. A phylogenetic framework for root-lesion nematodes of the genus Pratylenchus (Nematoda): evidence from 18S and D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S ribosomal RNA genes and morphological characters. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution 48: 491-505.
- Baldwin, J. G., Ragsdale, E. J., and Bumbarger, D. 2004. Revised hypotheses for phylogenetic homology of the stomatostylet in tylenchid nematodes. Nematology 6: 623-632