Arnold Arboretum Announces Deland Award Recipients

"Mariana Oliveira e Castro is working on her master’s thesis in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Coimbra in Portugal under the supervision of João Carlos Mano Castro Loureiro. In collaboration with John and Sally Perkins of the American Rhododendron Society, Mariana will determine the ploidy level (number of chromosome pairs) of 50 specimens of Rhododendron calendulaceum held in the Arboretum’s living collection. R. calendulaceum, a tetraploid, shares many characteristics with the diploid species R. cumberlandense. Ploidy level analysis will help to clarify the classification of Rhododendron species present in the collection."

Announcement

2011 Deland Award Recipients

John and Sally Perkins

Mariana Oliveira e Castro: 2011 Deland Award

We are very pleased to post the following from a letter Mariana Castro received from Dr. Ned Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum:

Dear Mariana,

We are delighted to notify you that you have been selected as a 2011 Deland Award recipient. Your use of the Arboretum collections was of paramount importance in this decision and we look forward to hearing about your research.

...

I want to welcome you to the Arboretum.

Sincerely,
Ned Friedman
Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Director of the Arnold Arboretum

John and Sally Perkins

Poster of Rhododendron Ploidy Research

A poster entitled


"Ploidy level estimations in deciduous and elepidote hybrids of Rhododendron" José M. Oliveira, Mariana Castro, Francisco Nascimento, Sílvia Castro, John Perkins, Sally Perkins, and João Loureiro

was prepared for

XXXVI Jornadas Portuguesas de Genética
Departamento de Ciências da Vida
Universidade de Coimbra
30 de Maio a 1 de Junho de 2011

John and Sally Perkins

The Research Team

Mariana Castro

José Cerca Oliveira

Dr. Silvia Castro

Dr. João Loureiro

To date over 500 Rhododendron and azalea samples, of which over 300 have been determined to be polyploids, have been tested for ploidy using flow cytometry by

Dr. João Loureiro, Dr. Silvia Castro, José Cerca Oliveira, and Mariana Castro
Plant Ecology and Evolution Group,
Centre for Functional Ecology,
Department of Life Sciences,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
University of Coimbra, Portugal.

John and Sally Perkins