Rudall, Paula J.
Job TitleIndividual Merit Researcher and Head of Micromorphology
DepartmentJodrell
SectionMicromorphology
Science Teams:
- Lamiaceae
- Large-Scale Syntheses
- Malpighiales
- Monocots I: General Alismatids & Lilioids
- Monocots II: Commelinids
- Monocots III: Orchids
Joined Kew: 1979
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Univ. London.
PhD, Univ. London, 1979
DSc, Univ. London, 2001
2005 Linnean Gold Medal Winner for Botany
2007 Awarded Corresponding (honorary) member of the Botanical Society of America
2008 Awarded Dahlgren Prize in Botany
Individual Merit Promotion (IMP) at RBG, Kew (2011)
Distinguished visiting research scholar, Adelaide University (1998)
Visiting research fellow, Universitá "La Sapienza" Rome (1997)
Systematics Association Council (1997- 2009), Programme committee (2009-2012)
Royal Society, Newton International Fellowships committee (2008-2012)
Editorial board, Kew Bulletin (1990-2010)
Associate editor, Taxon (2010–2015)
Conference co-organiser, Monocots I (Kew, UK 1993), Reproductive Biology (Kew, UK 1996), Iridaceae (Rome, Italy 1998), Under the Microscope (Linnean Society, UK 1999), Early events in Monocot evolution (Linnean Society, UK 2010)
Symposium organiser in several conferences: EED IV (Lisbon, Portugal 2012), IBC XVIII (Melbourne, Australia, 2011), Monocots IV (Copenhagen, Denmark 2008), EED2 (Ghent, Belgium 2008), SEB (Canterbury, UK 2008), IBC XVII (Vienna, Austria 2005), Monocots III (California, USA 2003), IBC XVI (St Louis, USA 1999)
Role
Use of micromorphology as a source of data in assessments of homology and phylogeny. Focused analytical studies on systematic morphology, anatomy, embryology and palynology in a phylogenetic and developmental-genetic context. A primary focus is to address questions about the evolutionary origin of flowers, including targeted comparative ontogenetic studies on a phylogenetically broad range of angiosperms in which the inflorescence–flower boundary is ambiguous, especially the monocot order Pandanales, the eudicot order Malphigiales and the early-divergent angiosperm family Hydatellaceae. A second key research focus is on the cell lineages that determine plant form, especially pollen development, embryology and stomatal development. Research portfolio of over 200 research papers and several books, including a textbook, Anatomy of Flowering Plants. Collaborative research includes year-out placement students and PhD students, plus a broad international network
Projects
- Anatomical Identification of Plant Material
- Anatomy of the Monocotyledons
- Angiosperm Phylogeny Group III
- Cell Inclusions
- Consider the Lilies
- Evolution of flowers and inflorescences in Euphorbiaceae
- Early Angiosperm Evolution
- Floral evolution in Lamiales - COMPLETED 2008
- Floral Evolution
- Global Patterns and Processes of Plant Diversity
- Kew Latin American Research Fellowships
- Systematics and Evolution of Palms
- Monocot Checklist-Project Completed
- Monocot Floral Evolution
- Monocot Pollen Evolution
- Morphological Innovations in Poales
- Morphometrics of Lilioid & Alismatid monocots
- Phylogenetics of the Monocots
- Pollen Evolution
- Structural Colour in Flowering Plants
- Systematics and Conservation Genetics of Asparagales
- Systematics and Genetics of Liliales
- Systematics of Dioscoreales
- Systematics and Evolution of Pandanales
- Taxonomic tools for Salicaceae and Achariaceae
- Wood anatomy of Malpighiales
Selected Recent Publications
Rudall P.J., F. Vergara-Silva, J. Hilton and R.M. Bateman (2011). Recurrent abnormalities in conifer cones and the evolutionary origins of flower-like structures. Trends in Plant Science 16: 151–159.
Remizowa M.V., Sokoloff D.D.and Rudall P.J. (2010). Evolutionary history of the monocot flower. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 97: 617–645.
Rudall P.J. (2010). All in a spin: centrifugal organ formation and floral patterning. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 13: 108–114.
Rudall, P.J. & Bateman, R.M. (2010). Defining the limits of flowers: the challenge of distinguishing between the evolutionary products of simple versus compound strobili. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 365: 397–409.
Rudall P.J., T. Eldridge, J. Tratt, S.Y. Smith, M.M. Ramsay, R.E. Tuckett, M.E. Collinson, M.V. Remizowa, D.D. Sokoloff. (2009). Seed fertilization, development and germination in Hydatellaceae (Nymphaeales): implications for endosperm evolution in early angiosperms. American Journal of Botany 96: 1581–1593.
Rudall, P.J., Remizowa, M.V., Prenner, G., Prychid, C.A., Tuckett, R.R., Sokoloff, D.D. (2009). Non-flowers near the base of extant angiosperms? Spatiotemporal arrangement of organs in reproductive units of Hydatellaceae, and its bearing on the origin of the flower. American Journal of Botany 96: 67–82.
Rudall, P.J., Remizowa, M.V., Beer, A., Bradshaw, E., Stevenson, D.W., Macfarlane, T.D. Tuckett, R.E., Yadav, S.R. Sokoloff, D.D. (2008). Comparative ovule and megagametophyte development in Hydatellaceae and water lilies reveal a mosaic of features among the earliest angiosperms. Annals of Botany 101: 941–956.
Selected Earlier Publications
Rudall, P.J. & Bateman, R.M. (2007). Developmental bases for key innovations in the seed-plant microgametophyte. Trends in Plant Science 12: 317–326.
Rudall, P.J. & Bateman, R.M. (2006). Morphological phylogenetic analysis of Pandanales: testing contrasting hypotheses of floral evolution. Systematic Botany 31: 223–238.
Rudall P.J. (2006). How many nuclei make an embryo sac in flowering plants? Bioessays 28: 1067–1071.
Rudall, P.J., Stuppy, W., Cunniff, J. Kellogg, E.A. & Briggs, B.G. (2005). Evolution of reproductive structures in grasses (Poaceae) inferred by sister-group comparison with their putative closest living relatives, Ecdeiocoleaceae. American Journal of Botany 92(9): 1432–1443.
Rudall, P.J. & R. M. Bateman. (2004). Evolution of zygomorphy in monocot flowers: iterative patterns and developmental constraints (Tansley Review). New Phytologist 162: 25–44.
