Molecular Plant Sciences Faculty
Learn more about this group by contacting Dr. Esther van der Knaap (EsthervanderKnaap@uga.edu) or by visiting the UGA Plant Center website.
Basic research in plant sciences helps meet the enormous challenge of securing food and health for a world population that has already reached 7 billions and is likely to grow to 9 billions by 2050. Research covers a wide range of research topics including the perception of light by plants, seed germination and plant development, mecanisms of resistance to diseases, plant-insect or plant-microbe interactions, metabolism of plant cells or epigenetic mechanisms.
Alabady, Magdy
Magdy Alabady Associate Research Faculty Plant Biology Genomics and computational biology of plant – microbiome interactions, RNA post-translation regulatory networks, and genome characterization Website
Bar-Peled, Maor
Maor Bar-Peled Associate Professor Plant Biology Molecular cell biology of the wall, Biofuel and BioEnergy, Golgi as model for System biology, Plant Immunity. Website
Barb, Jessica
Jessica Barb Assistant Research Scientist Plant Biology Crop breeding and genetics. Website coming
Bennetzen, Jeff
Jeff Bennetzen Professor Genetics; Bioinformatics Plant genomics and genome evolution, transposable elements, and regulatory gene evolution. Website
Buell, C. Robin
C. Robin Buell Professor GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics Plant Biology, Bioinformatics Plant genome biology with a focus on crops and medicinal plants; Synthetic biology; Evolution of natural product biosynthesis Website
Burke, John
John Burke Distinguished Research Professor and Department Head Plant Biology Evolutionary genetics; molecular evolution; genomics. Website
Darvill, Alan
Alan Darvill Regents Professor, Director Complex Carbohydrate Research Center Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Structures and functions of the noncellulosic polysaccharides of plant primary cell walls. Website
Dawe, Kelly
Kelly Dawe Distinguished Research Professor Genetics; Plant Biology Plant centromere and kinetochore structure and function. Website
Devos, Katrien
Katrien Devos Distinguished Research Professor Bioinformatics; Plant Biology Crop genetics, comparative genomics and genome evolution. Website
Kvitko, Brian
Brian Kvitko Associate Professor Microbiology Molecular mechanisms of plant immune action and bacterial pathogen virulence in model and crop pathosystems. Tool/technique development for phytopathogenesis systems biology and translational research. Website
Lechtreck, Karl
Karl Lechtreck Associate Professor Cellular Biology Cell Biology of Cilia; Cilia-related diseases, Intracellular Transport. Website
Leebens-Mack, Jim
Jim Leebens-Mack Associate Professor Plant Biology Phylogenetics, genetics of diversification including speciation; molecular basis of adaptation; evolutionary genomics; evolution of plant reproduction; organismal and molecular coevolution. Website
Lukowitz, Wolfgang
Wolfgang Lukowitz Associate Professor Plant Biology Fertilization, and early cell-fate decisions in plant embryos. Website
Mohnen, Debra
Debra Mohnen Professor Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Complex Carbohydrate Research Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Plant Biology Biosynthesis and function of the plant cell wall polysaccharide pectin. Anti-cancer effects of pectin. Website
Nelms, Brad
Brad Nelms Assistant Professor Plant Biology Cell differentiation during plant reproduction, genomics and gene regulatory networks, single-cell RNA-sequencing, reprogramming cell fate Website
Paterson, Andrew
Andrew Paterson Regents Professor and Head, Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory Plant Biology; Genetics; Bioinformatics My unit’s work addresses dimensions of plant genome biology relevant toward a more bio-based economy, linking increased fundamental knowledge to improved human lives. Website
Salzman, Shayla
Shayla Salzman Assistant Professor, Entomology Multi-modal signaling between plants and insects, evolution and mechanism of inter-species interactions. Techniques include insect behavior, chemical ecology, and phylogenetics. Website
Schmitz, Bob
Bob Schmitz Professor Genetics Population epigenomics and mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance. Website
Trapnell, Dorset
Dorset Trapnell Assistant Professor Plant Biology Evolutionary biology and population genetics of natural plant populations, specifically evolutionary factors that shape patterns of genetic variation and mechanisms for partitioning and maintaining species-wide diversity. Website
Tsai, C.J.
C.J. Tsai Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Bioinformatics; Genetics; Plant Biology Growth-defense tradeoff, phenylpropanoid metabolism and carbon allocation, gene family evolution and functional diversification, alternative splicing and gene duplication. Website
Urbanowicz, Breeanna
Breeanna Urbanowicz Assistant Professor Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Complex Carbohydrate Research Center Structure and function of enzymes involved in plant polysaccharide biosynthesis and modification with the long term goal to develop pathway engineering or targeted genomics approaches for enhanced production of bio-materials, -products, and -fuels. Website
van der Knaap, Esther
Esther van der Knaap Professor Genetics; Plant Biology The regulation of fruit shape and size of tomato and other Solanaceous crops Website
Wallace, Ian
Ian Wallace Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center Biosynthesis and regulation of plant cell wall synthesis and deposition, post-translational modifications, glycan imaging and dynamics. Website
Wallace, Jason
Jason Wallace Associate Professor Bioinformatics Quantitative genetics, crop genomics, crop-microbiome interactions. Website
Zheng, Y. George
Y. George Zheng Professor Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences Drug Development, Chemical Biology, Cancer Disease Mechanism, Epigenetics and Genetics, Histone Modifications, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Enzymology, and Biophysics. Website