Under construction

Regulation of floral growth and patterning in Arabidopsis thaliana

This project is a collaboration with Beth Krizek of University of South Carolina, Lead Principal Investigator on a five-year, NSF award titled Regulation of floral growth and patterning in Arabidopsis thaliana.

We are studying how a small family of related DNA-binding proteins control where and when flower organs form during floral development.  Our immediate goal is to identify downstream target genes using sequencing, genetics, and bioinformatics.

Cytokinin signaling in rice

The rice plant feeds more than half the world, making it one of the most important crops in agriculture. It is also an excellent model system for studying the basic biology of cereal crops.

Working with Lead Principal Investigator Joe Kieber of UNC Chapel Hill and G. Eric Schaller of Dartmouth University, we are investigating how cytokinin hormones influence rice plant productivity – the number and size of rice grains produced per plant.