Plant Structure & Function

June 29, 2021

Craig Schenck

To deal with relentless environmental pressures, plants produce an arsenal of structurally diverse defensive chemicals. These sometimes-complex compounds are derived from much simpler building blocks from primary metabolic pathways. Unlike well-documented diversification of plant specialized metabolic enzymes, core metabolic pathways are highly conserved and evolutionarily constrained because they serve essential metabolic functions, which makes manipulation of these pathways difficult. The expansion and alteration of core metabolism has given rise to the evolution of structurally diverse plant specialized metabolites. However, the underlying mechanisms enabling metabolic diversity and the connections linking core to specialized metabolism are not well known. These…

April 4, 2021

Heike Buecking

Plants are metaorganisms that engage in intimate associations with a wide diversity of microorganisms. Many of these microorganisms are beneficial and help plants to overcome a variety of abiotic and biotic stresses. In our research, we focus particularly on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and nitrogen fixing rhizobia bacteria. AM fungi played a significant role during land plant evolution and form close interactions with the roots of 70% of land plants, including many agronomically important species, such as corn, soybean, or wheat. AM fungi increase the nutrient acquisition of for example phosphate, nitrogen, sulfur, and potassium from the soil, and…

Dec. 10, 2020

So-Yon Park

Host-Parasitic plant interaction is a fascinating model to study Plant-Plant interaction. Park is interested in how mobile RNAs and proteins are exchanged, transferred, and functional in other organisms through the host-parasite interaction. Cuscuta (stem parasitic plant) and Phelipanche (root parasitic plant) growing on Arabidopsis, tomato, and soybean are major parasites used in Park lab. We are also interested in how small RNAs are transported and suppress target genes under drought stress in soybeans. Educational Background B.S., Dankook University, South KoreaPh.D., Seoul National University, South Korea…

Dec. 1, 2020

Jacob Washburn

Educational background…

May 17, 2020

David Braun

Carbohydrate partitioning is the process whereby photoassimilates are distributed from their site of synthesis in leaves to the rest of the plant. Control of carbohydrate partitioning is crucial for plant growth and development, and underlies all aspects of crop yield, including cellulose deposition in cell walls and sucrose accumulation in storage organs, such as the stems of sugarcane or sweet sorghum. For most plants, fixed carbon, in the form of sucrose, is loaded into the phloem and transported from leaves to non-photosynthetic tissues, such as stems, roots, and fruits. This process is well characterized at the physiological, biochemical, and…

Sep. 6, 2019

Lloyd W. Sumner

The research focus of the Sumner lab includes the development of cutting-edge technologies for large-scale biochemical profiling of plant metabolites (i.e. metabolomics) and integrating these with other omics data. These technologies are then applied in a symbiotic manner for plant gene discovery, gene characterization and the elucidation of mechanistic responses to external stimuli; especially related to plant specialized metabolism or plant natural products biosynthesis. Technology enables the biology and the biology drives technology development. Current technology development projects include the development of a sophisticated and integrated ensemble including UHPLC-MS-SPE-NMR for the systematic and biologically driven annotation of plant metabolomes.

Sep. 6, 2019

Scott C. Peck

Educational background Courses taught…

Sep. 6, 2019

Steven R. Van Doren

Protein interactions Gatekeeper of synthesis of plant oils The making of plant oils begins with the highly regulated first step of fatty acid biosynthesis. This is the conversion of the two carbons of acetyl-CoA to the three carbons of malonyl-CoA by acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase). Some of the numerous subunits of the ACCase in chloroplasts regulate the flow of carbon into oil biosynthesis. We reported pH-sensing by the BADC and BCCP subunits, and suggested that it may influence enzyme activity during the daily light-dark cycle. Crosslinks recently suggested that the regulated catalytic subunit called biotin carboxylase forms dimers of dimers.

Sep. 1, 2019

Bruce A. McClure

Research in the McClure lab is focused on understanding how pollen pistil communication controls plant mating. We study S-RNase-based self-incompatibility in Nicotiana and interspecific pollen recognition and rejection between tomato and its wild relatives. The genus Nicotiana is useful because of its ease of experimental manipulation, and the inter- and intra-specific compatibility relationships are well known. For example, N. alatadisplays gametophytic self-incompatibility (SI). Self-pollen and pollen from closely related plants are rejected, thus maintaining hybrid vigor. N. alata also has specific mechanisms for recognizing and rejecting pollen from related species such as N. plumbaginifolia and N. tabacum. Likewise, tomato, Solanum lycopersicum (formerly Lycopersicon esculentum), also has well defined crossing relationships…

Dec. 4, 2018

Malia Gehan

Educational background…