Science & Conservation

Recent Publications

Our roster of current and former team members have published numerous studies about a variety of plant science and conservation topics, ranging from the role of botanic gardens in addressing plant blindness to supporting food security in the face of climate change through work with crop wild relatives.

• Cano Á, Powell J, Aiello AS, Andersen HL, Arbour T, Balzer A, Bauer DS, Bugarchich J, Cano F, Contreras MP, Cubey R, Czajkowski I, Diaz-Toribio MH, Freeth T, Freyre N, Gardner MF, Griffith MP, Gustafsson ALS, Havström M, Hockley LR, Hollingsworth PM, Jørgensen T, Kindl K, Kirkwood D, Larpin D, Lofthus Ø, Löhne C, López-Villalobos A, Luscombe D, Molloy D, Morales-Rozo C, Nāburga I, Nebot A, Neinhuis C, Newlander CS, Ossaer J, Payton G, Peter J, Puente Martinez R, Scheen A-C, Scherberich D, Senekal AM, Shearman C, Siemon J, Socher SA, Sucher R, Summers A, Tucker Lima JM, Vry A, Wong J, Wrigley D, You F, and Brockington SF (2025) Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections. Nature Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02633-z.
• Le J, Xu J, Cai J, Hu C, Bai Y, Chen H, Rong W, Jiang Y, Wu X, Li Y, Wang Q, Naman CB, Wei H, Zhang J, Liu H, Chen X, Liu F, Liang H, and Cui W (2024) 9-Methylfascaplysin prevents neuroinflammation and synaptic damage via cell-specific inhibition of kinases in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics 30: e70100. doi: 10.1111/cns.70100.
• Armstrong L, Raeski PA, Paes de Almeida V, Minteguiaga M, Novatski A, Raman V, Gasparotto A Jr, Naman CB, and Manfron J (2024) Baccharis dracunculifolia DC. A review of research advances from 2004 to 2024, with new micromorphology and essential oil investigations. Journal of Herbal Medicine 48: 100952. doi: 101016/jhermed2024100952.
• Khoury CK, Gardner J, Buckheart F, Bugarchich J, Clayton C, Eide B, and Morgan S (2024) Volunteers inspire decades of growth at San Diego Botanic Garden. The Heroes of Botanic Gardens – Volunteers. Roots 12(2): 15-17.
• Simokat C, Ferguson EL, Keatly J, Smith T, Lorence M, and O’Hara J (2024) Multi‐method approach to assessing the floral‐visiting insect assemblage of rare, abophilous plant Baccharis vanessae in Southern California. Ecology and Evolution 14, e70327. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70327.
• Hoban S, Paz-Vilnas I, Shaw RE, Castillo-Reina L, Silva JMDA, Dewoody AJ, Ekblom R, Fedorca A, Forester BR, Funk WC, Geue JC, Heuertz M, Hollingsworth PM, Hughes AC, Hunter ME, Hvilsom C, Ishihama F, Jordan R, Kalamujic Stroil B, Kershaw F, Khoury CK, Koppa V, Laikre L, Macdonald AJ, Mastretta-Yanes A, Meek MH, Mergeay J, Millette KL, O’Brien D, Rincon-Parra VJ, Rodriguez-Morales MA, Schuman MC, Segelbacher G, Sunnucks P, Taylor RS, Thurfjell H, Vernesi C, and Grueber CE (2024) DNA-based studies and genetic indicator assessments are complementary approaches to conserving evolutionary potential. Conservation Genetics 25: 1147–1153. doi: 10.1007/s10592-024-01632-8.
• Jarvis A, Gallo-Franco J, Portilla J, German B, Debouck DG, Rajasekharan M, Khoury CK, Herforth A, Ahmed S, Tohme J, Arnaud E, Golden CD, Dawid C, de Haan S, DeClerck F, Feskens EJM, Fogliano V, Fritz G, Hald C, Hall R, Hart R, Henry A, Huang S, Hunter D, Imanbaeva B, Lowe AJ, Turner NJ, Jia G, Johnson E, Kalaiah G, Karboune S, Klade S, La Cerva GR, Lal V, Levy AA, Longvah T, Maeda-Yamamoto M, Minnis P, Nuti M, Octavio M, Osorio C, Pawera L, Peter S, Prasad R, Quave C, Shapiro H-Y, Sreeman S, Srichamnong W, Steiner R, Turdieva M, Ulian T, van Andel T, Wang R, Weissgold L, Yan J, and de la Parra J (2024) Periodic Table of Food Initiative for generating biomolecular knowledge of edible biodiversity. Nature Food 5: 189–193. doi: 10.1038/s43016-024-00941-y.
• Molina J, de Guzman RC, Wicaksono A, Muth T, Pedales R, Diaz D, Kusuma AB, Li C, Margollis H, Karnitskiy F, Estopace A, Atanelov P, Bukhbinder M, Tandang D, Rey Callado J, Morin JW, Fontanilla I, Davis D, Jones S, Erickson M, Adams J, Wallick K, Kidwell-Slak D, Novy A, and Pell S (2024) Rafflesia speciosa (Rafflesiaceae) reveal clues about its cryptic biology and cues for cultivation. Journal of Plant Interactions 19:1. doi: 10.1080/17429145.2024.2304221.
• Caro-Diaz EJ, Balunas MJ, Giddings L-A, Loesgen S, Murphy BT, Naman CB, Salomon CE, Tidgewell KJ, and Winter JM. (2024) Outlining the hidden curriculum: Perspectives on successfully navigating scientific conferences. Journal of Natural Products 87: 1487-1492. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00867.
• Ryu B, Glukhov E, Teixeira TR, Caffrey CR, Madiyan S, Joseph V, Avalon NE, Leber CA, Naman CB, and Gerwick WH (2024) The kavaratamides: Discovery of linear lipodepsipeptides from the marine cyanobacterium Moorena bouillonii using a comparative chemogeographic analysis. Journal of Natural Products 87: 1601-1610. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00242.
• Wang TT, Tian J, Huang J, Yuan Y, Naman CB, Wu S, Wang H, Lin W, Tong Z, Ding L, Wang W, and He S (2024) Irpetones A and B, anti-osteoclastic heptaketides from a marine mesophotic zone Ircinia sponge-associated fungus Irpex sp. NBUF088. Journal of Natural Products 87: 1203-1208. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c01078.
• Ngo T-E, Ecker A, Ryu B, Guild A, Remmel A, Boudreau PD, Alexander KA, Naman CB, Glukhov E, Avalon NE, Shende VV, Thomas L, Dahesh S, Nizet V, Gerwick L, and Gerwick WH (2024) Structure and biosynthesis of hectoramide B, a linear depsipeptide from the marine cyanobacterium Moorena producens JHB discovered via co-culture with Candida albicans. ACS Chemical Biology 19: 619-628. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.3c00391.
• Wang T, Feng Y, Huang J, Wu S, Hu K, Wu J, Naman CB, Wang H, Lin W, and He S (2024) Pestanoid A, a rearranged pimarane diterpenoid osteoclastogenesis inhibitor from a marine mesophotic zone Chalinidae sponge-associated fungus Pestalotiopsis sp. NBUF145. Journal of Natural Products 87: 160-165. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00892.
• Al-Sulaiti H, Almaliti J, Naman CB, Al Thani AA, and Yassine HM (2023) Metabolomics approaches for the diagnosis, treatment, and better disease management of viral infections. Metabolites 13: 948. doi: 10.3390/metabo13080948.
• Mezghani N, Amor JB, Simon PW, Mezghani N, Khoury CK, Carver D, and Tarchoun N (2023) Carrot wild relatives in Tunisia: genetic diversity and potential for climate change adaptation. III International Symposium on Carrot and Other Apiaceae. Acta Horticulturae 1393: 313-319. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1393.40
• The Sustainability Laboratory (with contributions from Naman CB and others) (2023) Envisioning La Palma; Developing a Sustainable Future for the Island. A Global Sustainability Fellows Program Report, Summer 2023, November 2023. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10352507. (Version in Spanish – doi:10.5281/zenodo.1035236).
• Molina J, Wicaksono A, Michael TP, Kwak S-H, Pedales RD, Joly-Lopez Z, Petrus S, Mamerto A, Tomek B, Ahmed S, Maddu V, Yakubova K, Tandang D, Morin JW, Park S-Y, Lee H-O, McLaughlin W, Wallick K, Adams J, Novy A, Pell S, and Purugganan MD (2023) The seed transcriptome of Rafflesia reveals horizontal gene transfer and convergent evolution: implications for conserving the world’s largest flower. Plants People Planet. doi: 10.1002/ppp3.10370.
• Pinto-Ledezma J, Díaz S, Halpern BS, Khoury CK, and Cavender-Bares J (2023) Tracking terrestrial biodiversity from a phylogenetic completeness perspective. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 22(2): e2696. doi: 10.1002/fee.2696.
• Khoury CK, Sotelo S, Amariles D, and Hawtin G (2023) The Plants That Feed the World: baseline data and metrics to inform strategies for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. doi: 10.4060/cc6876en.
• Dulloo E and Khoury CK (2023) White paper on Mainstreaming Global Crop Conservation Strategies in Plant Treaty Processes. Global Crop Diversity Trust. Bonn, Germany.
• Wuenschel A, Bartel JA, and Bernal A (2023) Forty years of change in Piute cypress (Hesperocyparis nevadensis), a rare California tree, after frequent fire and drought. Aliso 41: 52-66. doi: 10.5642/aliso.XQGU4829.
• Vuong VT, Fiorella KJ, Jones AD, Trinh HT, Khoury CK, Huynh TTT, Hoang KT, and Nguyen KT (2023) The association between food environment, diet quality and nutritional outcomes in adult populations along an urban – rural transect in Vietnam. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 36(6): 2201-2218. doi: 10.1111/jhn.13242.
• Volk GM, Carver D, Irish BM, Marek L, Frances A, Greene S, Khoury CK, Bamberg J, del Rio A, Warburton ML, and Bretting PK (2023) Safeguarding plant genetic resources in the United States during global climate change. Crop Science 63(4): 2274-2296. doi: 10.1002/csc2.21003.
• Naman CB, Sajeevan TP, Poulin CC, and Poulin RX (2023) Hidden in the photograph: the myth of complete metabolic coverage possible in metabolomics investigations. Analytical Science Advances 4(11-12): 319-323. doi: 10.1002/ansa.202200055. 
• Novy A, Hestness E, Khoury CK, Miller A, Moreau T, and Warschefsky E (2023) Botanic Gardens Contribute to Food Security Through Education, Conservation, and Research. In: T. Pullaiah and Galbraith, DA. Botanical Gardens and their Role in Plant Conservation, Vol 1. Routledge Press. 
• Gurnoe T, Bugarchich J, Khoury CK and Novy A (2023) Plant conservation efforts at the San Diego Botanic Garden. In: T. Pullaiah and Galbraith, DA. Botanical Gardens and their Role in Plant Conservation, Vol 3. Routledge Press.
• Dulloo E and Khoury CK (2023) Towards Mainstreaming Global Crop Conservation Strategies. Global Crop Diversity Trust. Bonn, Germany. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7610356.
• DeClerck FAJ, Koziell I, Benton T, Garibaldi LA, Kremen C, Maron M, Rumbaitis Del Rio C, Sidhu A, Wirths J, Clark M, Dickens C, Estrada Carmona N, Fremier AK, Jones SK, Khoury CK, Lal R, Obersteiner M, Remans R, Rusch A, Schulte LA, Simmonds J, Stringer LC, Weber C, and Winowiecki L (2023) A Whole Earth Approach to Nature Positive Food: Biodiversity and Agriculture. In: von Braun J, Afsana K, Fresco LO and Hassan MHA, Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation. Springer International Publishing, 469–496. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-15703-5_25.
• Kotowski M, Świerszcz S, Khoury CK, Laldjebaev M, Palavonshanbeeva B, and Nowak A (2022) The primal garden: Tajikistan as a biodiversity hotspot of food crop wild relatives. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 42: 112. doi: 10.1007/s13593-022-00846-9.
• Mahaut L, Pironon S, Barnagaud J-Y, Bretagnolle F, Khoury CK, Mehrabi Z, Milla R, Philipps C, Renard D, Rieseberg LH, and Violle C (2022) Matches and mismatches between the global distribution of major food crops and climate suitability. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Proc. R. Soc. B) 289(1983). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1542.
• Ulrich JC, Moreau T, Luna-Perez E, Beckett KIS, Simon LK, Migicovsky Z, Diederichsen A, and Khoury CK (2022) An inventory of crop wild relatives and wild-utilized plants in Canada. Crop Science 62(6): 2294-2318. doi: 10.1002/csc2.20807.
• Barchenger DW and Khoury CK (2022) A Global Strategy for the Conservation and Use of Capsicum Genetic Resources. Global Crop Diversity Trust. Bonn, Germany.
• Khoury CK, Sotelo S, Hawtin G, Wibisono J, Amariles D, Guarino L, Kiene T, and Toledo A (2022) The Plants That Feed the World: baseline data and metrics to inform strategies for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Information Document IT/GB-9/22/16.2/Inf.1. Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
• Ramirez-Villegas J, Khoury CK, Achicanoy H, Diaz MV, Mendez A, Sosa CC, Kehel Z, Guarino L, Abberton M, Aunario J, Al Awar B, Alarcon JC, Amri A, Anglin NL, Azevedo V, Aziz K, Capilit GL, Chavez O, Chebotarov D, Costich DE, Debouck DG, Ellis D, Falalou H, Fiu A, Ghanem ME, Giovannini P, Goungoulou AJ, Gueye B, Ibn El Hobyb A, Jamnadass R, Jones CS, Kpeki B, Lee J-S, McNally KL, Muchugi A, Ndjiondjop M-N, Oyatomi O, Payne T, Ramachandran S, Rossel G, Roux N, Ruas M, Sansaloni C, Sardos J, Setiyono TD, Tchamba M, van den Houwe I, Velazquez JA, Venuprasad R, Wenzl P, Yazbek M, and Zavala C (2022) State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of twenty-five major crops. Nature Plants 8: 491–499. doi: 10.1038/s41477-022-01144-8.
• Gómez-Godínez LJ, Calvillo Aguilar FF, Ponce de León AV, Khoury CK, and Diaz MV (2022) Herramientas informáticas para el estudio de los recursos genéticos In: Anaya ER, Ed., La conservación de Recursos Genéticos a 10 años de la creación del Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos de México (INIFAP, México), pp. 164-190.
• Fumia N, Pironon S, Rubinoff D, Khoury CK, Gore MA, and Kantar MB (2022) Wild relatives of potato may bolster its adaptation to new niches under future climate scenarios. Food and Energy Security 11(2): e360. doi: 10.1002/fes3.360.
• Fumia N, Rubinoff D, Zenil-Ferguson R, Khoury CK, Pironon S, Gore MA, and Kantar MB (2022) Interactions between breeding system and ploidy affect niche breadth in Solanum. Royal Society Open Science 9(1): 211862. doi: 10.1098/rsos.211862.
• Molina J, Nikolic D, Jeevarathanam JR, Abzalimov R, Park E-J, Pedales R, Mojica E-R E, Tandang D, McLaughlin W, Wallick K, Adams J, Novy A, Pell SK, van Breeman RB, and Pezzuto JM (2022) Living with a giant, flowering parasite: metabolic differences between Tetrastigma loheri Gagnep. (Vitaceae) shoots uninfected and infected with Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae) and potential applications for propagation. Planta 225:4. doi: 10.1007/s00425-021-03787-x
• MacQueen AH, Khoury CK, Miklas P, McClean PE, Osorno JM, Runck BC, White JW, Kantar M, and Ewing PM (2021) Local to continent-scale variation in fitness and heritability in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Crop Science 62(2): 767-779. doi: 10.1002/csc2.20694.
• von Wettberg E and Khoury CK (2021) Biodiversity data: The importance of access and the challenges regarding benefit sharing. Plants, People, Planet 4(1): 2-4. doi: 10.1002/ppp3.10241.
• Chaplin-Kramer R, Brauman KA, Cavender-Bares J, Díaz S, Duarte GT, Enquist BJ, Garibaldi LA, Geldmann J, Halpern BS, Hertel TW, Khoury CK, Krieger JM, Lavorel S, Mueller T, Neugarten RA, Pinto-Ledezma J, Polasky S, Purvis A, Reyes-García V, Roehrdanz PR, Shannon LJ, Shaw MR, Strassburg BBN, Tylianakis JM, Verburg PH, Visconti P, and Zafra-Calvo N (2021) Conservation needs to integrate knowledge across scales. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6: 118–119. doi: 10.1038/s41559-021-01605-x.
• Khoury CK, Brush S, Costich DE, Curry HA, de Haan S, Engels J, Guarino L, Hoban S, Mercer KL, Miller A, Nabhan GP, Perales HR, Richards C, Riggins C, and Thormann I (2021) Crop genetic erosion: understanding and responding to loss of crop diversity. Tansley review. New Phytologist 233(1): 84-118. doi: 10.1111/nph.17733.
• Argumedo A, Song Y, Khoury CK, Hunter D, Dempewolf H, Guarino L, and de Haan S (2021) Biocultural diversity for food system transformation under global environmental change. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 5: 685299. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.685299.
• Farhat P, Siljak-Yakovlev S, Hidalgo O, Rushforth K, Bartel JA, Valentin N, Leitch I, and Adams RP (2021) Polyploidy in Cupressaceae: discovery of a new naturally occurring tetraploid, Xanthocyparis vietnamensis. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 60: 824-834. doi: 10.1111/jse.12751.
• Novy A and Callan S (2021) Impact statements: critical tools for botanic garden evaluation. Roots 18 (2): 14-16.
• Novy A and Moreau T (2019) Crop Science Special Issue: Connecting Agriculture, Public Gardens and Science. Crop Science 59: 2300–2301.
• Khoury CK, Kisel Y, Kantar M, Barber E, Ricciardi V, Klirs C, Kucera L, Mehrabi Z, Johnson N, Klabin S, Valiño Á, Nowakowski K, Bartomeus I, Ramankutty N, Miller A, Schipanski M, Gore MA, and Novy A (2019) Science-graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Communications Biology 2: 295.
• Krishnan S, Moreau T, Kuehny J, Novy A, Greene SL, and Khoury CK (2019) Resetting the table for people and plants: Botanic gardens and research organizations collaborate to address food and agricultural plant blindness. Plants People Planet 1: 157–163.
• Kramer AT, Crane B, Downing J, Hamrick JL, Havens K, Highland A, Jacobi SK, Kaye TN, Lonsdorf EV, Ramp Neale J, Novy A, Smouse PE, Tallamy DW, White A, and Zeldin J (2019) Sourcing native plants to support ecosystem function in different planting contexts. Restoration Ecology 23: 470-476.
• Tomaszewski M, Dein M, Novy A, Hartman TJ, Steinhaus M, Luckett CR, and Munafo JP Jr (2019) Quantitation and seasonal Variation of Key Odorants in Propolis. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 67: 1495-1503.
• Bartel JA (2019) Piute cypress: An intriguing past and uncertain future. Fremontia 47(1): 23-28.
• Moreau T and Novy A (2018) Public Education and Outreach Opportunities for Crop Wild Relatives in North America. In: Greene SL, Williams KA, Khoury CK, Kantar MB, and Marek LF, eds., North American Crop Wild Relatives: Conservation and use. Springer.
• Adams RP, TeBeest AK, McNulty SK, Holmes W, Bartel JA, and Cornish K (2018) Geographic variation in natural rubber yields in natural populations of Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae, sunflowers). Phytologia 100: 62–70.
• Terry RG, Schwarzbach AE, and Bartel JA (2018) A molecular phylogeny of the Old World cypresses (Cupressus: Cupressaceae): Evidence from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences. Plant Systematics and Evolution 304: 1181–1197. doi : 10.1007/s00606-018-1540-1.
• Bartel JA and Adams RP (2018) Seed cone volume, a new methodology for a metric to differentiate Hesperocyparis (western cypress, Cupressaceae) taxa. Phytologia 100: 111–116.
• Novy A, Shimizu H, and Raven P (2017) The earth is a garden and we’re all its gardeners. (W.J. Kress and J.K. Stine, Eds.) in Living in the Anthropocene: Humanity in the Age of Humans, pp. 95-98. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington.
• Adams RP, Mataraci T, and Bartel JA (2017) Comparison the leaf essential oils of the cultivated fastigiate (strict) growth forms of Cupressus sempervirens in California and Turkey. Phytologia 99: 89–94.
• Adams RP, Mataraci T, Gucel S, and Bartel JA (2017) Comparison of leaf essential oils of fastigiate (strict) and horizontal forms of Cupressus sempervirens from Cyprus, Montenegro, Turkey, and United States. Phytologia 99: 48–53.
• Adams RP, TeBeest AK, Holmes W, Bartel JA, Corbet M, Parker C, and Thornburg D (2017) Geographic variation in pentane extractable hydrocarbons in natural populations of Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae, sunflowers). Phytologia 99: 1–10.
• Adams RP, TeBeest AK, Holmes W, Bartel JA, Corbet M, Parker C, and Thornburg D (2017) Geographic variation in volatile leaf oils (terpenes) in natural populations of Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae, sunflowers). Phytologia 99: 130–138.
• Krishnan S and Novy A (2016) The Role of Botanic Gardens in the Twenty-First Century. CAB Reviews 11(23).
• Terry RG, Pyne MI, Bartel JA, and Adams RP (2016) A molecular biogeography of the New World cypresses (Callitropsis, Hesperocyparis; Cupressaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 302: 921–942. doi: 10.1007/s00606-016-1308-4
• Miller A, Novy A, Glover J, Kellogg EA, Maul JE, Raven P, and Jackson PW (2015) Expanding the role of botanical gardens in the future of food. Nature Plants 1: 15078.
• Mims R, Novy A, and Willmott J (2014) Limiting pest problems through sustainable landscape and garden design and maintenance at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Outlooks on Pest Management 25: 320-324.
• Adams RP, Bartel JA, Terry R, Callahan F, and Bisbee J (2014) Taxonomy of Hesperocyparis montana, H. revealiana and H. stephensonii: Evidence from leaf essential oils analyses and DNA sequences. Phytologia 96(2): 71-83.