People

Dr. Sara "Coco" Gomez

Post-doctoral Researcher - University of Rhode Island / Tufts University

In an ever-changing environment, plants must adjust their phenotypes in order to survive and maximize their fitness. Through phenotypic changes plants can cope with a variety of stressors such as resource shortage, competition with neighbors, pathogen and herbivore attacks, etc. I am intrigued by how plants are able to fine-tune and tailor their responses to particular stressors, such as different herbivores and the trade-offs that arise from activating different suite of responses. My research interests to date have focused on herbivore-induced chemical and mechanical
changes, their mechanisms and ecological implications.

My main current project aims to understand how two exotic herbivores from the same feeding guild affect plant physiology, chemistry and performance and to understand plant-mediated interactions among the herbivores when they feed individually, simultaneously and sequentially on their host. Through a combination of laboratory, green house and field studies we hope to shed some light into potential resistance/tolerance mechanisms against these harmful pests.

In another recent project I investigated how herbivore cues change resource dynamics and resource pools using a whole-plant approach. I used radioisotopes to track how patterns of carbon and nitrogen resources allocation respond to simulated herbivory and metabolomic analyses to study changes in primary metabolite pools in different tissues and in response to different defense elicitors.

Publications

Gomez S, Steinbrenner AD, Osorio S, Schueller M, Ferrieri RA, Fernie AR & Orians CM (2012). From shoots to roots: transport and metabolic changes in tomato after simulated feeding by a specialist lepidopteran. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (in press)
Gomez S, Orians CM & Preisser EL (2012). Exotic herbivores on a shared host: foliar quality after single, simultaneous, and sequential attack. Oecologia (in press)
Steinbrenner AD*, Gomez S*, Osorio S, Fernie AR & Orians CM (2011). Whole-plant changes in tomato primary metabolism after herbivory by a generalist and a specialist. J Chem Ecol 37: 1294-1303. * These authors contributed equally
Orians CM, Thorn A, Gomez S (2011). Herbivore-induced resource sequestration in plants: Why bother? Oecologia 167:1-9
Gomez S, Ferrieri RA, Schueller M, Orians CM (2010). Methyl jasmonate elicits rapid changes in carbon and nitrogen dynamics in tomato. New Phytol 188:835-844
Gomez S, van Dijk W, Stuefer JF (2010). Timing of induced resistance in a clonal plant network. Plant Biology 12:512-517
Hanik N, Gomez S, Schueller M, Orians CM, Ferrieri RA (2010). Use of gaseous 13NH(3) administered to intact leaves of nicotiana tabacum to study changes in nitrogen utilization during defence induction. Plant Cell and Environment 33:2173-2179
Hanik N, Gomez S, Best M, Schueller M, Orians CM, Ferrieri RA (2010). Partitioning of new carbon as ¹¹C in nicotiana tabacum reveals insight into methyl jasmonate induced changes in metabolism. J Chem Ecol 36:1058-1067
Latzel V, Klimesova J, Hajek T, Gomez S, Smilauer P (2010). Maternal effects alter progeny's response to disturbance and nutrients in two plantago species. Oikos 119:1700-1710
Latzel V, Hajek T, Klimesova J, Gomez S (2009). Nutrients and disturbance history in two plantago species: Maternal effects as a clue for observed dichotomy between resprouting and seeding strategies. Oikos 118:1669-1678
Gomez S (2008) The importance of being connected: Induced resistance to herbivores in Trifolium repens networks. PhD Thesis. Experimental plant ecology department, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. ISBN 978-90-9023039-9.
Gomez S, Onoda Y, Ossipov V, Stuefer JF (2008). Systemic induced resistance: A risk-spreading strategy in clonal plant networks? New Phytol 179:1142-1153
Gomez S, Latzel V, Verhulst YM, Stuefer JF (2007). Costs and benefits of induced resistance in a clonal plant network. Oecologia 153:921-930
Perea J, Garcia A, Gomez G, Acero R, Pena F, Gomez S (2007). Effect of ligh tand substratum structural complexity on microhabitat selection by the snail helix aspersa muller. J Molluscan Stud 73:39-43
Gomez S, Stuefer JF (2006). Members only: Induced systemic resistance to herbivory in a clonal plant network. Oecologia 147:461-468
Hosaka N, Gomez S, Kachi N, Stuefer JF, Whigham DF (2005). The ecological significance of clonal growth in the understory tree, pawpaw (asimina triloba). Northeast Nat 12:11-22
Stuefer JF, Gomez S, Van Molken T * (2004). Clonal integration beyond resource sharing: Implications for defence signalling and disease transmission in clonal plant networks. Evol Ecol 18:647-667 *All Authors contributed equally