Kerry Swartwood

This paper uses CRISPR/Cas9 to engineer compact Physalis peruviana plants to improve yield and scalability for agricultural production.

The paper investigates how plant tissue culture parameters affect polyploidy in three Solanaceae species, finding that explant type and species influence polyploidy rates, but zeatin concentration has species-specific effects.

The paper uses pan-genomics and genome editing in Solanum to show that paralog diversification hinders genotype-phenotype predictability in crop domestication.

The paper investigates convergent evolution of plant prickles, finding that mutations in a cytokinin gene repeatedly cause prickle loss across species.