Turning herbarium records into big data for plant microbiomes

Scientists are now discovering that the millions of biological collections kept behind the scenes in museums and herbaria can serve as a roadmap for understanding biological responses to global change. In this project, we propose to pull data from herbarium specimens to uncover the natural history of microbial diversity, which are not only crucial to plants for healthy growth and protection from herbivores, but, in turn, are useful as sources of new medicine in pharmaceutical industries.

Relevant Publications:

Daru, B.H., Bowman, E.A., Pfister, D.H. & Arnold, A.E. (2018) A novel proof-of-concept for capturing the diversity of endophytic fungi preserved in herbarium specimens. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 374: 20170395 doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0395.

How to Get Involved:

We invite enthusiastic individuals, researchers, and organizations to join our efforts in turning herbarium records into big data for plant microbiomes. By leveraging the millions of biological collections kept in museums and herbaria, we aim to uncover the natural history of microbial diversity and its crucial role in supporting healthy plant growth and providing potential sources of new medicine in pharmaceutical industries.

Ways to Contribute:

  1. Collaborate on Data Collection: Are you associated with herbaria or have access to herbarium specimens? Collaborate with us to contribute data for our research.
  2. Support Data Analysis: If you possess expertise in bioinformatics, data analysis, or statistical modeling, your contributions can greatly aid in uncovering valuable insights from the vast dataset.
  3. Share Knowledge and Expertise: If you have domain-specific knowledge related to plant microbiomes or global change biology, share your insights with our team.

Contact Us:

To get involved or learn more about participating in the project, please reach out to us via email.