Herbarium genomics: investigating plant and microbial evolution using historic and modern samples

Today it is possible to retrieve genomes from organisms that perished thousands of years ago. Millions of desiccated plant specimens are stored in museums and contain DNA suitable for genome sequencing. These specimens harbor an untapped record of global biodiversity spanning the last 450 years. The combined use of historical and modern plant samples introduces a temporal scale to evolutionary studies, allowing the interrogation of allele frequencies through time. The research group studies the evolution of plants, their pathogens, and the associated microbiome using modern and ancient DNA.