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.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gene expression in cultivars with contrasting chilling requirements.

The image above contains stems from three different peach cultivars of contrasting chilling requirement. Buds were photographed after two weeks of forcing in a GH following exposure to approximately 600 hours of chilling in the field. The stem on the right is a cultivar rated at 650 CH for bloom and has started bud burst, the middle is 850 CH and the left is 1050 CH. Note the bud swelling of the 850 cultivar relative to the 1050 cultivar. This image also nicely shows the peach 'triple bud' arrangement of two floral buds flanking a single vegetative bud.
Posted by Douglas Bielenberg at 1:36 PM
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