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The School of Plant Sciences is a vigorous, cutting-edge, and comprehensive academic unit of the University of Arizona, whose scientists are devoted to the study of plants, the organisms that underpin the survival of terrestrial life. Research programs within the School examine how plants grow, how they respond to their environment, how they evolved, how they can be manipulated, and their fungal, bacterial, and viral interactions. These studies are done at various levels -- from the chemical reactions and molecules fundamental to all life, to the roles plants play in ecosystems, whether controlled or under natural conditions. Plants are also studied from the viewpoint of basic research,  from the viewpoint of applied research, including crop production, protection, and improvement, and from the viewpoint of addressing directed societal goals, such as biofuels, enhanced nutrition, and the discovery of biomedicinal  compounds.    more..

FEATURED FACULTY

David Galbraith works on the development of novel techologies and platforms for the analysis of the molecular properties of plant cells, tissues and organs.  Part of his current activities is directed toward the analysis of cell type-specific gene expression, and primarily employs flow cytometry and cell sorting to purify different cell types, or their nuclei, for subsequent genomic analyses.  A second part is directed toward establishing a comprehensive molecular census of all extant angiosperm species, estimated to number at approximately 650,000, before these species are driven to extinction by human activities.  A final interest is in the comparative value of hypothesis-testing and discovery science for advancing our understanding of biological systems. Trained at Cambridge University, Dr. Galbraith has extensive international collaborations.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Unprecedented levels of fungal endophyte diversity have been found  in tropical forest grasses on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, by A. E.  Arnold and colleagues. Unlike for temperate and crop grasses, these fungi are generalists. Because grasses first appeared in tropical forests, these relationships shed light on the evolution of endophytism [article link]   

School of Plant Sciences investigators directed by Rod Wing within AGI have collaborated on a recent article, appearing in Science, that examines the evolution of Nod factor signaling in  Parasponia andersonii. For more details, click here. 

Terraces of equally-optimal trees, often concealed by standard methods of phylogenetic analysis, occur when multi-locus data sets have specific patterns of missing data. These patterns can now be understood, and their effects ameliorated, as described by faculty member Michelle McMahon and colleagues in Science magazine (Abstract; Perspective).