The Bielenberg Lab Information Page

Gene expression in cultivars with contrasting chilling requirements.

2009-01-06T13:36:00.004-05:00

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.

Showy/nonshowy flower types from chilling requirement mapping population

2009-01-06T13:26:00.003-05:00

Here is a nice shot of the Showy (R) and nonshowy (L) flower phenotype that is segregating in our Contender x Fla92-2C mapping population. The petals are still slightly curled from bud burst. At first glance the nonshowy flowers look as if they have dropped their petals, but often the petals are no larger than the sepals below. Showy flowers are recessive.

Presentation at ASPB 2008 in Merida, Mexico

2008-08-13T11:01:00.002-04:00

Douglas Bielenberg took a poster to the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists June 26-July 1, 2008 in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Jimenez S, Li Z, Reighard G, and Bielenberg DG. "Identification of genes associated with bud dormancy entrance using a dormancy-incapable tree mutant" Poster no. P32006 in the Vegetative development session. (http://abstracts.aspb.org/pb2008/public/P32/P32006.html)

Program overview

2008-08-07T16:16:00.000-04:00

Plants are among the most physiologically complex organisms on our planet. This complexity is a consequence of their autotrophic nature and their relative immobility following seed germination. Plants display remarkable physiological plasticity to survive the drastically changing environment throughout a growing season or even within a single day. A perennial organism must be able to tolerate the freezing temperatures of winter, the intense heat and light of summer, drought episodes, air pollution, poor soils, and much more over many years, decades, or even centuries. The many stresses that an organism is exposed to must all be managed to maintain the physiological growth and development that ultimately results in successful reproduction.

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.

Kill-Bowden awarded Fellowship

2008-06-23T07:43:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Jennie Kill-Bowden for the renewal of her Wade Stackhouse Graduate Fellowship ($7,000) from the Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Life Sciences for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Mapping population sampling completed and thank you!

2008-02-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

This winter the lab has been phenotyping a F2 mapping population of peach trees that segregate for chilling requirement for bud break. This entailed sampling stems from three populations of 378 trees each every 100 hours of accumulated time below 7 C. The stems were then forced in the GH for two weeks to see if they broke bud. Each sampling required 30-40 person-hours and needed to be completed in 3-4 hours. Needless to say this logistically required a lot of helping hands. Also, the sampling dates depended on the weather so weren't set until a few days prior.

I would like to thank everyone who helped with the sampling. Good workers with flexible schedules who don't mind working in the cold and rain are hard to find; your help was appreciated.

Thanks to: Jennie, Yuhui, Fan, Sergio, Xiaoyu, Sean, Hail, Rob, Joe, Brandon, Matt, Ben, Drew, Trey, Christina, and Katie.

EVG sequence and annotation paper published.

2008-01-24T12:54:00.000-05:00

Our paper in Tree Genetics & Genomes on the mapping, sequencing, and annotation of the EVG locus in peach was recently published online. Many thanks to everyone involved!

Bielenberg DG, Wang Y, Li Z, Zhebentyayeva T, Fan S, Reighard GL, Scorza R, Abbott AG (2008) Sequencing and annotation of the evergrowing locus in peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] reveals a cluster of six MADS-box transcription factors as candidate genes for regulation of terminal bud formation. Tree Genetics and Genomes DOI: 10.1007/s11295-007-0126-9

PAG XVI talk

2008-01-24T12:46:00.000-05:00

Douglas Bielenberg presented a talk at Plant and Animal Genome XVI in San Diego, CA on Jan 15 2008.
"Duplicated MIKC-type MADS-box genes are candidates for the evergrowing mutation in peach: phylogenetic context, duplication history, and expression analysis" Li Z, Jiménez-Tarodo S, Lawton-Rauh A, Reighard GL, Abbott AG, Bielenberg DG

This was the first run of a Workshop on Bud Dormancy organized by David Horvath of the USDA-ARS. Many thanks to him for organizing the Workshop and the invitation.

See the other speakers in the Bud Dormancy Workshop here: http://www.intl-pag.org/16/16-dormancy.html

Yuhui Xie

2007-08-24T15:30:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-17T21:28:00.000-04:00

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.

Xie awarded Graduate Dean's fellowship

2007-08-17T21:17:00.000-04:00

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.

Kill awarded Stackhouse fellowship

2007-08-17T21:11:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-17T20:54:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-17T20:35:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-17T20:28:00.000-04:00

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.

Principle investigator

2007-08-17T20:10:00.002-04:00

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)

Welcome!

2007-08-14T13:59:00.000-04:00

Hello all,
Welcome to the new web page! Stay tuned for information and events concerning the Bielenberg Lab activities and research.

Douglas Bielenberg