Menu
The George C. and Sue W. Sumner Molecular and Structural Laboratory is a 1700-square-foot research facility. It allows BRIT scientists, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, visiting scientists, technical staff, and interns to investigate botany at various levels in a state-of-the art facility. The Sumner Lab is divided into five components: separate DNA and RNA extraction labs, a post-PCR molecular space, a structural space for comparative anatomy, and a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) room. The Sumner Lab is also home to the BRIT Biorepository, a GGBN-partnered biodiversity biobank dedicated to the long-term preservation and storage of DNA and tissues intended for genomic research. Research at the laboratory complements traditional field, herbarium, and literature research about plants and lichens.
The molecular part of the laboratory generates genome-scale sequence data from DNA and RNA that allows us to document the plant and fungal tree of life and conserve our natural heritage.
The structural part of the laboratory allows BRIT scientists to investigate the forms and functions of plants and fungi and to discover new features of plants and lichens at a microscopic level, relating structures to the functions necessary for life.
Together, the molecular and structural components of this laboratory help advance research at BRIT by complementing the resources that already make us one of the world’s leading botanical institutions, including our world class herbarium, library, and education programs. Botany in the 21st century integrates herbarium and library resources with laboratory techniques that allow botanists to discover, document, describe, conserve, and educate about our natural heritage.
Please visit the Virtual Tour section for more information.
DNA is responsible for storing and transferring genetic information whereas RNA directly codes for amino acids in the production of proteins. The differences between DNA and RNA and how they ultimately (most often) relate to proteins that carry out essential cellular functions in organisms can most succinctly be described by what has been referred to as the “central dogma of molecular biology,” which describes the sequential flow of information from DNA to RNA to protein.
In a living cell, DNA is the master copy of all information about life. It is permanently stored in the nucleus. The RNA on the other hand is a molecule that copies some of the info from the DNA (a process called transcription) and takes it outside of the nucleus, where that info can be translated into proteins. Proteins are large and complex molecules that do much of the work in living cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the plant’s tissues and organs.
Researchers at BRIT explore the differences between DNA, RNA, and proteins using tools in this laboratory among the diverse groups of plants and fungi we study here.
Studying plants at the molecular level means studying the genetic basis for diversity and the features and functions of plants, thereby opening numerous avenues for understanding plant life that are otherwise hidden from our view.
- Assembling the plant tree of life, past and present. Assembling the tree of life requires a very close understanding of the relationships of specific plants to each other. Those relationships can be elucidated by studying and comparing the molecules and different structures of plants. Some of you may be familiar with genetic testing kits that use your DNA to help you understand your family tree. At BRIT, we use similar techniques to study the tree of life for plants and fungi, sequencing plant and fungal genomes and/or specific regions of these genomes to compare different individuals, species, or even explore higher relationships among distantly related groups of these amazing organisms.
- Exploring, understanding, and discovering the genes responsible for the different characteristics/morphologies exhibited by plants and fungi along the tree of life. Examples from our work: genes that help form the basis of leaf development, genes that play a role in photosynthesis
Biodiversity is our natural heritage, and conserving and documenting plant and fungal diversity is at the core of BRIT’s mission. As home to the Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens), BRIT has developed a biorepository – sort of a DNA bank – that stores and preserves the genomic heritage of plant species. Utilizing a network of botanical gardens in Texas, we preserve DNA from the diversity of plants throughout Texas. In a world where much biodiversity is threatened by extinction, BRIT’s DNA Bank – here in our molecular and structural laboratory – allows us to preserve the genomes of plants and document diversity before it may be lost.
This lab can also generate DNA data that documents the genetic variation of rare and endangered plants in Texas to better understand how populations are being affected by human interventions such as climate change and forest fragmentation. This information helps conservation managers make decisions on which populations of the species to prioritize for protection.
Through partnerships with University of Texas Arlington, Texas Christian University, and Tarleton State University, BRIT will help train the next generation of plant biologists at the undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. levels in the use of cutting-edge molecular tools to understand and conserve life.
The Eppendorf 5424 Microcentrifuge allows the separation of plant chemicals for their purification and analysis.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Qubit 4 Fluorometer measures the amount of DNA yielded from an extraction method.
To Come
Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening.
Exterior view of the lab entrance from the hallway showing the windows into the lab and the interpretive signage.
FORT WORTH BOTANIC GARDEN
3220 Botanic Garden Blvd
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
(817) 463-4160
Click here to email us!
BOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF TEXAS
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
We respectfully acknowledge that the Fort Worth Botanic Garden is located on traditional lands of Indigenous Peoples. We honor the ancestry, heritage, and gifts of all Indigenous Peoples who were sustained by these lands and give thanks to them. We are grateful that these lands continue to provide enrichment for many people today. [More…]
©2023 Fort Worth Botanic Garden