JOSEPH BUSCH
Ph.D. candidate

Purdue University
Dept. Forestry & Natural Resources
715 W. State St.
W. Lafayette, IN 47907
765-532-2173

jdbusch@purdue.edu

Advisor: Andrew DeWoody

I joined Andrew DeWoody's lab in August, 2003 to study genetic processes underlying evolution at the population level.  The banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) is an excellent organism to ask questions pertaining to population bottlenecks, fine-scale genetic structure, and MHC-based mate choice. I conduct my field sampling at the two Arizona field sites that Peter Waser has used for past work on dispersal and demography.

BOTTLENECKS
Severe demographic bottlenecks have been well-documented at both Arizona sites during the past 20 years. I have conducted a genetic analysis in the wake of these bottlenecks to see if either population crash left a genetic signature. Surprisingly, no signal was found using a suite of 8 microsatellite markers.  I infer the most likely explanation is cryptic immigration in the first few generations of recovery. Molecular Ecology, 16, 2450-2462

 

FINE-SCALE GENETIC STRUCTURE
In banner-tailed kangaroo rats, both sexes are highly philopatric.This situation can lead to a population with alarge amount of local structure created byfamilies living in close proximity.Iam currently investigating whether fine-scale genetic structureexists, and if so, if it is influenced by population density (ie, bottlenecks) or changes over time.

MHC
Since D. spectabilis juveniles do not disperse very far, any given pair of neighbors might be related and have an increased risk of inbreeding.  One possible way that relatives could avoid mating is through cues given by genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). MHC genes are known to play a role in mate choice of mice, fish, and even humans. In order to test this possibility in D. spectabilis, I have isolated 4 MHC class II genes that will allow future work on this question.

 

CONSERVATION
In the past, I have worked on a variety of conservation genetic projects on desert species.  As with many biologists, conservation is a major interest of mine and I strive to find ways that my research can assist management efforts.  While D. spectabilis is not a threatened species, I used bottleneck approaches that are commonly performed on species of management concern. Aspects of kangaroo rat biology highlight situations where such methods must be used carefully. 

 

 

FNR COMPASS
I am currently serving as one of the editors for Compass, a short magazine produced by FNR graduate students that showcases ongoing research in our department. 

 

PUBLICATIONS
1. Busch, Joseph D, Peter Waser, and J. Andrew DeWoody. 2007. Demographic bottlenecks are not accompanied by a genetic signature in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis). Molecular Ecology, 16, 2450-2462.

2. Peter Waser, Joseph D. Busch, Cory R. McCormick, and J. Andrew DeWoody. 2006. Parentage analysis detects cryptic pre-capture dispersal in a philopatric rodent. Molecular Ecology 15: 1929-1937.

3. Busch, Joseph D., Todd E. Katzner, Evgeny Bragin, and Paul Keim. 2005. Tetranucleotide microsatellites for Aquila and Haliaeetus eagles. Molecular Ecology Notes 5:39-41.

4. Talima Pearson, Joseph D. Busch, Jacques Ravel, Timothy D. Read, Shane D. Rhoton, Jana M. U’Ren, Tatum S. Simonson, Sergey M. Kachur, Rebecca R. Leadem, Michelle L. Cardon, Matthew N. Van Ert, Lynn Y. Huynh, Claire M. Fraser, and Paul Keim. 2004. Phylogenetic discovery bias in Bacillus anthracis using single-nucleotide polymorphisms from whole-genome sequencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101(37):13536-13541.

5. Van Ert, Matthew N., Steven A. Hofstadler, Yun Jiang, Joseph D. Busch, David M. Wagner, Jared J. Drader, David J. Ecker, James C. Hannis, Lynn Y. Huynh, James M. Schupp, Tatum S. Simonson, and Paul Keim. 2004. Mass spectrometry provides accurate characterization of two genetic marker types in Bacillus anthracis. Biotechniques 37(4):642-643.

6. DeWoody, J. Andrew, James M. Schupp, Leo Kenefic, Joseph D. Busch, Lisa Murfitt, and Paul Keim. 2004. A universal method for producing ROX-labeled size standards suitable for automated genotyping. Biotechniques 37(3):348-352.

7. Price, Lance B., Amy Vogler, Talima Pearson, Joseph D. Busch, James M. Schupp, and Paul Keim. 2003. In vitro selection and characterization of Bacillus anthracis mutants with high-level resistance to ciprofloxacin. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 47(7):2362-2365.

8. Kuske, Cheryl R., Lawrence O. Ticknor, Joseph D. Busch, Catherine A. Gehring, and Thomas G. Whitham. 2003. The pinyon rhizosphere, plant stress, and herbivory affect abundance of microbial decomposers in soils. Microbial Ecology 45(4):340-352.

9. Read, Timothy D., Steven L. Salzberg, Mihai Pop, Martin Shumway, Lowell Umayam, Lingxia Jiang, Eric Holtzapple, Joseph D. Busch, Kimothy L. Smith, James M. Schupp, Daniel Solomon, Paul Keim, and Claire M. Fraser. 2002. Comparative genome sequencing for discovery of novel polymorphisms in Bacillus anthracis. Science 296:2028-2033.

10. Vogler, Amy J., Joseph D. Busch, Stephanie Percy-Fine, Christine Tipton-Hunton, Kimothy L. Smith, and Paul Keim. 2002. Molecular analysis of rifampicin resistance in Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 46(2):511-513.

11. Busch, Joseph D., Mark P. Miller, Eben H. Paxton, Mark K. Sogge, and Paul Keim. 2000. Genetic variation in the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. The Auk 117(3):586-595.

12. Miller, Mark P., Larry E. Stevens, Joseph D. Busch, Jeff A. Sorensen, and Paul Keim. 2000. Amplified fragment length polymorphism and mitochondrial sequence data detect genetic differentiation and relationships in endangered southwestern U.S.A. ambersnails (Oxyloma spp.). Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:1845-1854.

13. Kuske, Cheryl R., Joseph D. Busch, Dante L. Adorada, John M. Dunbar, Susan M. Barns. 1999. Phylogeny, ribosomal RNA gene typing, and relative abundance of new Pseudomonas species (sensu stricto) isolated from two pinyon-juniper woodland soils of the arid southwest U.S. Systematic and Applied Microbiology 22:300-311.

14. Kuske, Cheryl R., Susan M. Barns, and Joseph D. Busch. 1997. Diverse uncultivated bacterial groups from soils of the arid southwestern United States that are present in many geographic regions. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 63:3614-3621.