Kesara Margrét Anamthawat-Jónsson (publication name: Kesara Anamthawat-Jónsson) is a Thai-Icelandic botanist. She is a professor of botany and plant genetics at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland.
Education Kesara was awarded an entry to the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. She completed the four-years programme in 1974, with a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree, Botany major, and during the graduation ceremony she received the Gold Medal Award from King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX.
In 1976 Kesara received a Fulbright grant from the US Embassy in Thailand for graduate study at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas. She studied botany with emphases on plant cytogenetics, systematics and evolution. She defended her Master's thesis and graduated with an MA degree in 1979.Anamthawat K. (1979). Vegetative and reproductive growth of Clarkia nitens and Clarkia speciosa polyantha (North and South chromosome races) in relation to drought in garden experiments. M.A. Thesis. University of Kansas, USA. Pp. 166
In 1988, after having worked for several years as a researcher in Iceland, Kesara began her PhD studies on plant cytology and genetics at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge, Churchill College. Kesara received financial support for her PhD studies from the British Embassy in Reykjavík (the Chevening Scholarship), and the Overseas Fellowship from the UK Government. She also received an allowance as research assistant from BP Venture Research Programme. Kesara defended her thesisAnamthawat-Jónsson KM (1992) Molecular cytogenetics and nuclear organization in the Triticeae. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Cambridge, UK. Pp. 277. and graduated with a PhD in 1992.
Academic and research career Kesara began her academic career as a lecturer at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, Chulalongkorn University (1973 – 1976), and later from 1979, after completing her Master's studies in the US, as assistant professor in the same department until she moved to Iceland in 1981. The courses she taught included General Botany, Plant Physiology and Cytogenetics. Upon her departure from Thailand, Kesara was honoured with The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, Companion (Fourth Class) (จัตุรถาภรณ์ช้างเผือก), in appreciation of her academic service to the country.
Her career in Iceland began in January 1982 at the Agricultural Research Institute in Keldnaholt in Reykjavik (now part of the Agricultural University of Iceland,Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands. until 1988 when she went to UK for her PhD studies. During her time at the institute, she established chromosome techniques for studying birch trees and various other Icelandic plant species. Kesara also received training abroad on two occasions: on plant chromosome preparation methods at the University of HelsinkiAnamthawat-Jónsson K, Atipanumpai L, Tigerstedt PMA and Tómasson Th (1986) The Feulgen-Giemsa method for chromosomes of Betula species. Hereditas 104: 321-322. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1986.tb00547.x and animal cytogenetics at the School of Veterinary Science, University of Guelph.Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Long SE, Basrur PK and Adalsteinsson S (1992) Reciprocal translocation (13;20)(q12;q22) in an Icelandic sheep. Research in Veterinary Science 52: 367-370. After Kesara completed her PhD in UK, she came back to work as a research scientist at this institute (1992 – 1996), focussing on the genetics of birch trees, while initiating her own study of lyme grass in Iceland.
In 1996, Kesara received an appointment as lecturer at the Department of Biology, University of Iceland. She was appointed associate professor in 1997 and Professor from 1 January 1999. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses, including Diversity of Life, Plant Physiology, Plant Genetics and Biotechnology, Cytogenetics and Tropical Biology. Kesara has been a graduate supervisor to twelve Master's and PhD students at the University of Iceland and from universities in Finland, Sweden and Thailand. Eight Master's PhD students are still working on their research projects under her supervision.
Genetic history of birch woodland in Iceland (1982 – present) The main focus of Kesara's research since she began her career in Iceland 37 years ago has been the genetics of Icelandic plants. She has made numerous discoveries in this field, the results of active collaboration with her students and colleagues in Iceland and abroad.Google. Scholar. Kesara Anamthawat-Jonsson. Studying the genetics of Icelandic tree-birch or woodland birch species (Betula pubescens) particularly interests Kesara. This birch often has a shrub-like form, and her studies have shown that this is mostly due to introgressive hybridization with the co-existing dwarf birch species (Betula nana).Anamthawat-Jónsson K and Tómasson Th (1990) Cytogenetics of hybrid introgression in Icelandic birch. Hereditas 112: 65-70. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1990.tb00138.xAnamthawat-Jónsson, K. and Thórsson, Æ. Th. (2003). Natural hybridization in birch: Triploid hybrids between Betula nana and B. pubescens. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 75: 99-107. DOI: 10.1023/A:1025063123552 Gene flow between the two species, via hybridization,Thórsson Æ, Salmela E and Anamthawat-Jónsson K (2001) Morphological, cytogenetic, and molecular evidence for introgressive hybridization in birch. Journal of Heredity 92: 404-408. DOI: 10.1093/jhered/92.5.404Thórsson, Æ.Th., Pálsson, S., Sigurgeirsson, A., Anamthawat-Jónsson, K. (2007). Morphological variation among Betula nana (diploid), B. pubescens (tetraploid) and their triploid hybrids in Iceland. Annals of Botany 99: 1183-1193. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcm060 is thought to have an evolutionary advantage, especially for species survival in the changing environment. Molecular genetic studiesThórsson, Æ. Th., Pálsson, S., Lascoux, M., Anamthawat-Jónsson, K. (2010). Introgression and phylogeography of Betula nana (diploid), B. pubescens (tetraploid) and their triploid hybrids in Iceland inferred from cp-DNA haplotype variation. Journal of Biogeography 37: 2098-2110. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02353.xAnamthawat-Jónsson, K. (2012). Hybridisation, introgression and phylogeography of Icelandic birch. In: Current Topics in Phylogenetics and Phylogeography of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems (K Anamthawat-Jónsson, ed.). InTech – Open Access Publisher, Croatia, pp. 117-144, . have confirmed this introgressive hybridization and have also indicated the multiple origin of Icelandic birch. The studies of subfossil pollen from lake sediments have detected birch hybridization throughout the Holocene.Karlsdóttir L, Hallsdóttir M, Thórsson ÆTh, Anamthawat-Jónsson K (2008) Characteristics of pollen from natural triploid Betula hybrids. Grana 47: 52-59. DOI: 10.1080/00173130801927498Karlsdóttir L, Hallsdóttir M, Thórsson ÆTh, Anamthawat-Jónsson K (2009) Evidence of hybridisation between Betula pubescens and B. nana in Iceland during the early Holocene. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 156: 350-357. DOI: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.04.001 The climate warming, e.g., during the Holocene Thermal Maximum, was found to coincide with peaks of hybridization between the two birch species in Iceland. Kesara has also studied other tree species, including aspen, rowan and willow.Kesara Anamthawat-Jónsson og Hjörtur Þorbjörnsson (2016) Úlfareynir. Skógræktarritið 2016, 1. tbl., bls. 6-16.
Cereal nuclei and chromosome painting in plants (1988 – 1995) The first project in her PhD research was to use light- and electron microscopy to further support the model of higher order of nuclear organization in plants.Anamthawat-Jónsson K and Heslop-Harrison JS (1990) Centromeres, telomeres and chromatin in the interphase nucleus of cereals. Caryologia 43: 205-213. DOI: 10.1080/00087114.1990.10796999 After that, Kesara became directly involved in the development of a new molecular cytogenetic technique, called Genomic In Situ Hybridization (GISH).Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Schwarzacher T, Leitch AR, Bennett MD and Heslop-Harrison JS (1990) Discrimination between closely related Triticeae species using genomic DNA as a probe. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 79: 721-728. DOI: 10.1007/BF00224236 The method instantly proved applicable to detecting chromosome transfers in cereal cultivarsHeslop-Harrison JS, Leitch AR, Schwarzacher T and Anamthawat-Jónsson K (1990) Detection and characterization of 1B/1R translocations in hexaploid wheat. Heredity 65: 385-392. DOI: 10.1038/hdy.1990.108Schwarzacher T, Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Harrison GE, Islam AKMR., Jia JZ, King IP, Leitch AR, Miller TE, Reader SM, Rogers WJ, Shi M and Heslop-Harrison JS (1992) Genomic in situ hybridization to identify alien chromosomes and chromosome segments in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 84: 778-786. DOI: 10.1007/BF00227384 and differentiating parental genomes in hybrids.Anamthawat-Jónsson K and Heslop-Harrison JS (1993) Isolation and characterization of genome-specific DNA sequences in Triticeae species. Molecular and General Genetics 240: 151-158. DOI: 10.1007/BF00277052Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Reader SM (1995). Preannealing of total genomic DNA probes for simultaneous genomic in situ hybridization. Genome 38: 814–816. DOI: 10.1139/g95-104
Triticeae genomes – from barley to lyme grass (1989 – present) Kesara has been studying genomic and evolutionary relationships among some species of the wheat tribe Triticeae. For barley, she used molecular cytogenetic techniques to map retroelements on chromosomes.Vicient CM, Suoniemi A, Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Tanskanen J, Beharav A, Nevo E and Schulman AH (1999) Retrotransposon BARE-1 and its role in genome evolution in Hordeum. The Plant Cell 11: 1769-1784. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.11.9.1769Kalendar R, Vicient CM, Peleg O, Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Bolshoy A and Schulman AH (2004) Large retrotransposon derivatives: Abundant, conserved but nonautonomous retroelements of barley and related genomes. Genetics 166: 1437-1450. DOI: 10.1534/genetics.166.3.1437 She has collaborated with and supervised a number of PhD students in the genomic identification of several perennial Triticeae species.Ellneskog-Staam P, Salomon B, von Bothmer R and Anamthawat-Jónsson K (2001) Trigenomic origin of the hexaploid Psammopyrum athericum (Triticeae: Poaceae) revealed by in situ hybridization. Chromosome Research 9: 243-249. DOI: 10.1023/A:1016604705296Víctor Lucía, M. Montserrat Martínez-Ortega, Enrique Rico, Kesara Anamthawat-Jónsson (2019) Discovery of the genus Pseudoroegneria (Triticeae, Poaceae) in the Western Mediterranean and on exploring the genetic boundaries of Elymus. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 57(1): 23-41. DOI: 10.1111/jse.12426 As for Icelandic lyme grass (Leymus arenarius), Kesara has studied the molecular genetic diversity of this species, traced the genomic origin and has identified the genome composition of this genus.Anamthawat-Jónsson K, Wenke T, Thórsson ÆTh, Sveinsson S, Zakrzewski F, Schmidt T (2009) Evolutionary diversification of satellite DNA sequences from Leymus (Poaceae: Triticeae). Genome 54(4): 381-390. DOI: 10.1139/G09-013Anamthawat-Jónsson K (2014) Molecular cytogenetics of Leymus: Mapping the Ns genome-specific repetitive sequences. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 52(6): 716-721. (Q2, IF 1.648) DOI: 10.1111/jse.12106
Triteymus – new cereal hybrid, new bread (1992 – present)