FACULTY PROFILE

 

	Dr. Sasa Stefanovic
	Assistant Professor
	Department: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
	Graduate Program: Plant and Microbial Biology, EEB
	Education: M.Sc. 1997, Université de Paris VI/MNHN, Paris, France Ph.D. 2002, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
	Email: sasa.stefanovic@utoronto.ca
	Office Phone: 905-569-4271	Office: SE 3037
	Lab Phone: (905) 569-4276	Lab: SE 4090-A
	Fax: 905-828-3792
	Campus: Erindale (Mississauga)
	UTM Herbarium TRTE
	Mailing Address: Department of Botany / Biology University of Toronto at Mississauga 3359 Mississauga Road Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6 Canada

 

Research Interests
Most of research in my lab is centred on the systematics and molecular evolution of Convolvulaceae (morning-glory family) in general and, more particularly, on a parasitic genus Cuscuta (dodders) found within that family. Convolvulaceae are one of the very few flowering plant families showing substantial structural difference in otherwise highly conserved plastid genome. The comparative approach on a broad taxon sampling within this family and in conjunction with a robust phylogenetic framework will help to address a series of testable hypotheses regarding the pattern and process of chloroplast genome evolution and their correlates at the organismal level. More broadly, I am interested in a number of other related plant evolution topics. From the systematics point of view I am mostly interested in a deep level phylogeny of land plants, in particular that of conifers and basal angiosperms. In molecular evolution field, I am particularly interested in changes that have shaped the plastid genome evolution in heterotrophic plants in general (both parasitic and mycotrophic), the shared and unique features characterizing different phylogenetic, ecological, and physiological groups of heterotrophs, as well as the extent of involvement of these very unusual plants in evolutionary phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer. I am interested in patterns of mitochondrial evolution in land plants, as well, especially in ferns and conifers.
Representative Publications
2009
Costea, M. and S. Stefanovic. 2009. Cuscuta jepsonii (convolvulaceae): An invasive weed or an extinct endemic? American Journal of Botany. 96(9): 1744-1750. Stefanovic, S. and D. Lakusic. 2009. Molecular reappraisal confirms that the Campanula trichocalycina-pichleri complex belongs to Asyneuma (Campanulaceae). Bot. Serbica. 33(1): 21-31. Costea, M. and S. Stefanovic. 2009. Molecular Phylogeny of the Cuscuta californica Complex (Convolvulaceae) and a New Species from New Mexico and Trans-Pecos. Systematic Botany 34(3): 570-579. Lakusic, D., T. Rakic, S. Stefanovic, B. Surina, and V. Stevanovic. 2009. Edraianthus x lakusicii (Campanulaceae) a new intersectional natural hybrid: morphological and molecular evidence. Plant Syst. Evol. 280: 77–88. Braukmann, T.A.W., M. Kuzmina, and S. Stefanovic. 2009. Loss of all plastid ndh genes in Gnetales and conifers: extent and evolutionary signiWcance for the seed plant phylogeny. Curr. Genet. 55: 323–337. Lo, E. Y. Y., S. Stefanovic, K. I. Christensen, and T. A. Dickinson. 2009. Evidence for genetic association between East Asian and western North American Crataegus L. (Rosaceae) and rapid divergence of the eastern North American lineages based on multiple DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogentics and Evolution 51: 157-168. Lo, E. Y. Y., S. Stefanovic, and T. A. Dickinson. 2009. Population genetic structure of diploid sexual and polyploidy apomictic hawthorns (Crataegus; Rosaceae) in the Pacific Northwest. Molecular Ecology 18: 1145-1160. Stefanovic, S., B. E. Pfeil, J. D. Palmer, and J. J. Doyle. 2009. Relationships among phaseoloid legumes based on sequences from eight chloroplast regions. Systematic Botany 34: 115-128.
2008
Stefanovic, S. and M. Costea. 2008. Reticulate evolution in the parasitic genus Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae): over and over again. Botany 86: 791-808. Costea, M., F. Aiston, and S.Stefanovic. 2008. Species delimitation, phylogenetic relationships, and two new species in the Cuscuta gracillima complex (Convolvulaceae). Botany 86: 670-681. Costea, M. and S. Stefanovic. 2008. Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae). In: The Jepson Manual, Flora of California, 2nd Edition, Berkeley University, CA, USA. Accepted. Stefanovic, S., D. Lakusic, M. Kuzmina, S. Mededovic, K. Tan, and V. Stevanovic. 2008. Molecular phylogeny of Edraianthus (Grassy Bells; Campanulaceae) based on non-coding plastid DNA sequences. Taxon 57(2): 452-475.
2007
Lo, E. Y. Y., S. Stefanovic, and T. A. Dickinson. 2007. Molecular reappraisal of relationships between Crataegus and Mesphilus (Rosaceae, Pyreae) - two genera or one?. Systematic Botany 32(3): 596-616. Stefanovic, S., M. Kuzmina, and M. Costea. 2007. Delimitation of major lineages within Cuscuta subgenus Grammica (Convolvulaceae) using plastid and nuclear DNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 94(4): 568-589.
2006
Costea, M., G. L. Nesom, and Stefanovic, S. 2006. Taxonomy of the Cuscuta pentagona complex (Convolvulaceae) in North America. SIDA 22(1): 151-175. Costea, M., G. L. Nesom, and Stefanovic, S. 2006. Taxonomy of the Cuscuta salina-californica complex (Convolvulaceae). SIDA 22(1): 177-195. Costea, M., G. L. Nesom, and Stefanovic, S. 2006. Taxonomy of Cuscuta gronovii and Cuscuta umbrosa (Convolvulaceae). SIDA 22(1): 197-207. Costea, M., G. L. Nesom, and Stefanovic, S. 2006. Taxonomy of the Cuscuta indecora complex (Convolvulaceae) in North America. SIDA 22(1): 209-225.
2005
Stefanovic, S. and R. G. Olmstead. 2005. Down the slippery slope: plastid genome evolution in Convolvulaceae. Journal of Molecular Evolution 61: 292-305.
2004
Stefanovic, S., D. Rice, and J.D. Palmer. 2004. Long Branch Attraction, Taxon Sampling, and the Earliest Angiosperms: Amborella or Monocots?. BMC Evolutionary Biology 4: 35. Mower J. P., S. Stefanovic, G. Young, and J. D. Palmer. 2004. Gene transfer from parasitic to host plants. Nature 432: 165-166. Soltis, D. E., V. A. Albert, V. Savolainen, K. Hilu, Y.-L. Qiu, M. W. Chase, J. S. Farris, S. Stefanovic, D. W. Rice, J. D. Palmer, P. S. Soltis. 2004. Genome-scale data, angiosperm relationships, and 'ending incongruence': a cautionary tale in phylogenetics. Trends in Plant Science 9: 477-483. Stefanovic, S. and R. G. Olmstead. 2004. Testing the Phylogenetic Position of a Parasitic Plant (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae, Asteridae): Bayesian Inference and the Parametric Bootstrap on Data Drawn from Three Genomes. Systematic Biology 53: 384-399.
2003
Stefanovic, S., D. F. Austin, and R. G. Olmstead. 2003. Classification of Convolvulaceae: a Phylogenetic Approach. Systematic Botany 28: 791-806.
2002
Stefanovic, S., L. Krueger, and R. G. Olmstead. 2002. Monophyly of the Convolvulaceae and circumscription of their major lineages based on DNA sequences of multiple chloroplast loci. American Journal of Botany 89: 1510-1522.
1998
Stefanovic, S., M. Jager, J. Deutsch, J. Broutin, and M. Masselot. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of conifers inferred from partial 28S rRNA gene sequences. American Journal of Botany 85(5): 688-697.
1997
Stefanovic, S., F. Rakotondrainibe, and F. Badre. 1997. Famille 14, Selaginellaceae, Flore de Madagascar et des Comores, Museum National d'Histoire Natirelle, Paris. 68 pp. Stefanovic, S. and F. Rakotondrainibe. 1997. Contribution to the study of the Selaginellaceae of Madagascar. Adansonia, ser. 3, 19: 165-168.
1996
Stefanovic, S. and F. Rakotondrainibe. 1996. New taxa and a new rank of Selaginella (Selaginellaceae) from Madagascar and the Comoros. Novon 6: 203-209. Rakotondrainibe, F., F. Badre, and S. Stefanovic. 1996. Etude floristique et phytogeographuque des Pteridophytes des iles du sud-ouest de l'Ocean indien. Pp: 109-120. In: Biogeographie de Madagascar, W. R. Lorenco (editor), Edition de l'ORSTOM, Paris.