Home › Academics › College of Science and Mathematics › Faculty & Staff › Richard Kesseli

Faculty & Staff

Areas of Expertise

Chairman of Biology Comparative Genomics, Molecular Evolution

Degrees

PhD, Genetics, University of California, Davis, 1985
BS, Botany, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1975

Professional Publications & Contributions

• 2009 Grimsby, J and R. Kesseli. Genetic composition of invasive Japanese knotweed s.l. in the United States. Biological Invasions: (DOI 10.1007/s10530-009-9602-5).
• 2009 Gammon, M and R. Kesseli. Haplotypes of Fallopia introduced into the US. Biological Invasions: (DOI 10.1007/s10530-009-9459-7)
• 2008 Spoon, T., and R. Kesseli. Development of microsatellite markers in Cordia bifurcate (Boraginaceae) and cross-species amplification in Cordia inermis and Cordia pringlei. Molecular Ecology Resources 8: 989-992.
• 2008 Radwan, O., S. Gandhi, A. Heesacker, B. Whitaker, C. Taylor, A. Plocik, R. Kesseli, A. Kozik, R. Michelmore and S. Knapp. Genetic diversity and genomic distribution of homologs encoding NBS-LRR disease resistance proteins in sunflower. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 280: 111-125.
• 2008 Lawrence, C., J. Ebersole, and R. Kesseli. Rapid growth and out-crossing promote female development in Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Environmental Biology of Fishes 81: 239-246.
• 2007 Chapman, M., Jian Cheng Chang, David Weisman, Rick V. Kesseli and John M. Burke. Universal markers for comparative mapping and phylogenetic analysis in the Asteraceae (Compositae). Theoretical and Applied Genetics 115: 747-755.
• 2007 Truco, Maria Jose, Antonise, R.; Lavelle, Dean, Ochoa, O., Kozik, A., Witsenboer, H., Fort, S., Jeuken, M., Kesseli, R., Lindhout, Pim, Michelmore, R., Peleman, J. A high-density integrated genetic linkage map of lettuce (Lactuca spp.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics 115: 735-746.
• 2007 Gammon, M., J. Grimsby, D. Tsirelson, and R. Kesseli. Molecular and morphological evidence reveals introgression in swarms of the invasive taxa Fallopia japonica, Fallopia sachalinensis, and Fallopia X bohemica (Polygonaceae) in the United States. Amer. J. Bot. 94: 948-956.
• 2007 Grimsby, J., D. Tsirelson, M. Gammon, and R. Kesseli. Genetic diversity and clonal versus sexual reproduction in three Massachusetts populations of Fallopia spp. (Polygonaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 94: 959-966.
• 2006 Timms, L., R. Soris Jimenez, M. Chase, L. McHale, D. Lavelle, A. Kozik, Z. Lai, A. Heesacker, R. Michelmore, S. Knapp, L. Rieseberg, R. Kesseli. Analyses of Synteny between Arabidopsis thaliana and Species in the Compositae Reveal a Complex Network of Small Syntenic Segments and Major Chromosomal Rearrangements. Genetics 173:2227-2235.
• 2006 Forman Orth, J., M. Gammon, F. Abdul Basir, D. Tsirelson, S. Stevenson, S. Speak, R. Kesseli. Natural history, distribution and management of Lepidium latifolium (Brassicaceae) in New England. Rhodora 108: 103-118.
• 2006 Gerwein, J., and R. Kesseli. 2006 Genetic diversity and population structure of Quercus rubra in the old-growth and secondary forests in southern New England. Rhodora 108: 1-18.
• 2005 Szczys, P., C. R. Hughes, and R. V. Kesseli, Novel microsatellite markers used to determine the population genetic structure of the endangered Roseate Tern, Sterna dougallii, in North America and Western Australia. Conservation Genetics 6: 461-466.
• 2004 Plocik, A., J. Layden and R. Kesseli. Comparative analysis of NBS domain sequences of NBS-LRR disease resistance genes in sunflower, lettuce and chicory. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31:153-163.
• 2003 Michelmore R, Kozik A, Truco MJ, Matviencho M, Ochoa O, van Damme M, Lavelle D, Lin H, Pande B, McHale L, Sudarshana P, Argyris J, Ellison P, Bradford K, Jackson L, Kesseli R. ESTs and candidate gene approaches in the Compositae Genome Project. Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables pgs. 131-136.
• 2003 Moreno-Vazquez, S., O. Ochoa, N. Faber, S. Chao, B. Maisonneuve, R. Kesseli, R. Michelmore. SNP-based co-dominant markers for a recessive gene conferring resistance to corky root rot (Rhizomonas suberifaciens) in lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Genome 46: 1059-1069.
• 2003 Pritham, E., Y. Zhang, C. Feschotte and R. Kesseli. An Ac-like transposable family with transcriptionally active Y-linked copies in the white campion, Silene latifolia. Genetics 165: 799-807
• 2003 Forman, J and R. Kesseli. Sexual reproduction in the invasive species Fallopia japonica (Polygonaceae). American Journal of Botany 90: 586-592.

Additional Information

Research Experience
Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, 9/02 – present
Director, Graduate Programs in Biology, 9/07- present

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, 7/97 – 9/02
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, 1/92 - 6/97
Research Geneticist, Department of Vegetable Crops, U.C. Davis, 1/89 - 12/91
Post-doctoral research, Department of Vegetable Crops and Department of Agronomy and Range Science, U.C. Davis, 2/85 - 12/88

Teaching Experience
Graduate level: Invasive Species: Ecology, Evolution and Management (Biol. 648), Population Genetics and Diversity (Biol. 635), Advanced Eukaryotic Genetics (Biol. 677) and Molecular Evolution (Biol. 697).
Undergraduate level: Genetics (Biol.252/254) and occasional guest lectures in courses on genetics, genetic diversity, human genetics in the Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology departments or other venues.

Current Extramural Grants
Genetic bases and ecological significance of plant-microbe interactions in the rhizospere. (PIs R. Kesseli, A. Colon-Carmona, J. Dukes, M. Shiaris). NSF Division of Integrative Organismal Systems, Feb 2009- Jan 2012. $695,545.

Comparative Genomics of Phenotypic Variation in the Compositae.  (PIs L. Rieseberg, Indiana University; Richard Michelmore, Univ. of California, Davis; Steve Knapp Univ. of Georgia; Rick Kesseli, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Kent Bradford, University of California, Davis; David Still, Calif. State Univ., San Luis Obispo; John Burke, Univ. of Georgia). NSF Plant Genome (DBI 0820451), $8,575,544.  Feb 2009 – Jan. 2013.

Scientific Awards
Outstanding Achievement Award in Research, Scholarship and Service, University of Massachusetts 2008
Outstanding Achievement Award in Research, Scholarship and Service, University of Massachusetts 2000
Outstanding Achievement Award in Research, Creative and Professional Activity, University of Massachusetts 1997
Faculty Appreciation recognized by students: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2006

Professional Service
Member of Site Visit Team National Science Foundation, Science and Technology Centers (9/09)
Advisory Board, Boston Harbor Island National Park (03/09- present);
Member of Advisory Panel for National Science Foundation, Evolutionary Genetics (4/07);
Member of Advisory Panel for National Science Foundation, Evolutionary Genetics (4/05);
Member of Joint Executive Office of Environmental Affairs/UMass panel on Agriculture (2003);
Member of Review Panel for U. S. Department of Agriculture, Sunflower Research Station, Fargo ND  (6/02);
Member of Advisory Panel for National Science Foundation, Population Biology (5/02);
Member of Advisory Panel for National Science Foundation, Population Biology (5/00);
Member of Advisory Panel for U. S. Department of Agriculture, Plant Genome Research Program (4/00)

Lab Webpage: www.genetics.umb.edu
Composite Genome Project: http://compgenomics.ucdavis.edu/