Recruiting now: Graduate students interested in tree biology research and teaching.
Highly competitive assistantships are available for students with a strong interest in physiological and molecular tree biology and in gaining valuable instructional experience. This program would be valuable to prospective students who are considering academia/teaching as a career goal.
Currently the lab is focused on the molecular regulation of growth arrest and dormancy entrance in buds of perennial species. In particular we are focusing on the role of the SVP/StMADS11 clade of Type II MADS-box genes which have been associated with the ability to form terminal buds in peach trees. This clade of genes appears to be expanded in trees and we hypothesize these genes may have a role in perennial life history. Potential applications include regulating bud break in horticultural species to avoid spring frosts and increasing the growing season of important biomass feedstock species. We are actively using peach and hybrid poplar as model systems for physiological, expression, and transformation experiments using a broad variety of modern tools and techniques.
The degree program will be in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University. See http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/departments/biosci/graduates/ for details of degree requirements, program features, and application materials. Biological Sciences at Clemson University is a dynamic department spanning the full spectrum of kingdoms of life and levels of organization.
Engage in cutting edge research and gain a competitive advantage in the academic job market! Contact Dr. Douglas Bielenberg (dbielen@clemson.edu) for more details.
Program overview
My primary research interests are in the physiological and molecular mechanisms of plant interactions with the physical environment. Past research subjects have included air pollutant injury, root cell plasticity in response to nutrient deficiency, plant behavioral movements in response to light and temperature, and plant response to global change (elevated CO2).
Currently my program is focused on the regulation bud formation in perennials as part of the developmental program that prepares plants to survive potentially damaging winter conditions. Despite being one of the most dramatic landscape and ecosystem events of the annual cycle, very little is known about the physiological and genetic regulation of dormancy in perennial species. Ultimately, a goal is to contribute to assembling a pathway of events from perception of the signal(s) for dormancy induction through to the developmental events associated with bud formation and endodormancy development.
Yuhui Xie
Ph.D. Candidate in Plant and Environmental Sciences
Mr. Xie is working on the cloning of StMADS11/SVP class MADS box genes from Populus and peach and construction of targeted RNAi knock-down vectors for each of these genes. He will also be involved in the creation of transgenic plants for analysis of loss-of-function mutations of these group of genes.
Kristen Hill-Colvin
Lab manager 2005-2006 (She got us off the ground!)
Mrs. Hill-Colvin is now a science educator in Greenville County, SC.
Congratulations to Yuhui Xie for his award of a Graduate Dean's Fellowship ($10,000) from the Clemson University Graduate School for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Congratulations to Jennie Kill for her award of a Wade Stackhouse Graduate Fellowship ($7,000) from the Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Sergio Jimenez-Tarodo
Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Horticulture
Dr. Jimenez-Tarodo comes to the lab from the University of Zaragoza in Spain when he received his Ph.D. in 2006. He is currently working on dormancy-associated gene discovery in peach and exploring the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships among SVP/AGL24 Type II MADS box genes found in perennial species.
Shenghua Fan
Ph.D. candidate in Genetics & Biochemistry
Mr. Fan is currently assembling a SSR-anchored genetic map of a peach F2 mapping population that segregates for chilling requirement and the Showy/Nonshowy flower type. He is advised by Dr. Albert Abbott in Genetics & Biochemistry. Our group is phenotyping the bloom time, chilling requirement, and flower type of over 400 individual progeny used in the F2 mapping population.
Jennie Kill
M.S. candidate in Biological Sciences beginning Jan. 2007
Ms. Kill earned a BS in Biological Sciences and a Spanish minor from Clemson in 2004.
She is the lab instructor for Plant Physiology Laboratory (BIOSC 402) and is currently investigating the integration of shoot and root growth in peach trees. She also acts as lab manager and coordinates field and greenhouse activities, in particular keeping all our trees healthy and happy.
Zhigang Li
Visiting Scholar
Shanxi University, P.R.C.
Dr. Li is completing the expression analysis of the candidate genes located in the EVG genomic locus of peach. He is also leading differential display experiments using SSH techniques for discovery of novel dormancy associated sequences.
Douglas G. Bielenberg
Assistant Professor of Plant Physiology
B.S. University of Northern Iowa
Ph.D. The Pennsylvania State University
(caldera floor with rainforest on northern slope in Volcanoes National Park, Hawai'i)
Hello all,
Welcome to the new web page! Stay tuned for information and events concerning the Bielenberg Lab activities and research.
Douglas Bielenberg
