Genome organization
and evolution
Tracing structural change, polyploidy, and chromosome evolution to understand how grass genomes became what they are today.
Grass genomics / Athens, Georgia
Katrien M.
Devos Lab
We decode how grass genomes evolve, adapt, and shape the crops that sustain changing environments.
01 Finger millet
02 Switchgrass
03 Sorghum
Our question
What can the diversity written into grass genomes tell us about where plants have been and where agriculture can go next?
Research / 01
Three lenses.
One connected genome story.
We move from chromosome-scale history to field-scale performance, combining genetics, genomics, and comparative biology.
Genome organization
Trait genetics
and adaptation
Connecting variation across populations with resilience, environmental response, and traits important to crops and ecosystems.
Comparative grass
genomics
Transferring insight among diverse grasses to reveal conserved biology and species-specific innovation.
Crop systems / 02
Different histories.
Shared questions.
Three crop systems let us examine domestication, adaptation, and genome evolution across distinct biological and agricultural contexts.
Finger
millet
Domestication, diversity, and the genomic foundations of an adaptable cereal crop.
Switchgrass
Population structure, local adaptation, and variation in a perennial bioenergy grass.
Explore SNP dataSorghum
Genome variation across a globally important cereal and its geographic diversity.
Explore SNP dataAcross scales / 03
From a single base
to a changing landscape.
Our work links sequence variation, population diversity, controlled experiments, and field performance into one integrated view of plant biology.
Lab leadership / 04
Katrien M. Devos
Distinguished Research Professor
Dr. Devos leads a research program at the intersection of grass genetics, comparative genomics, trait analysis, and genome evolution. Her work connects Plant Biology, Crop and Soil Sciences, and the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics at the University of Georgia.
Contact / 05
Cultivating ideas
in Athens, Georgia.
Devos Lab
Miller Plant Sciences
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602