Faculty By Department

Department of Agronomy:

Jean-Michel Ane: Plant microbe symbiotic associations; nodulation and mycorrhization; symbiotic nitrogen fixation and phosphate transport; genomics, phosphoproteomics and metabolomics; development of Medicago truncatula as a model legume. jane@wisc.edu

Michael D. Casler: Perennial cool-season forage grass breeding: breeding methodology, quantitative genetics, forage quality and ruminant nutrition, developmental genetics of plant cell walls, heterosis and heterozygosity in polyploids. mdcasler@wisc.edu

Natalia de Leon: Plant breeding and quantitative genetics. Population enhancement for biomass increase and cell wall composition. Interface of plant breeding and quantitative and molecular genetics. Combination of different sources of genetic information such as phenotypic, genotypic and expression data. Genetic analysis of developmental traits in maize. ndeleongatti@wisc.edu

Molly Jahn: Genetics, genomics and breeding of vegetable species with particular focus on disease resistance and quality traits; Capsicum germplasm and diversity; capsaicinoid biosynthesis (also listed under Genetics section). mjahn@cals.wisc.edu

Heidi Kaeppler: Cereal monocot breeding and genetics, focusing on wheat, maize, oat and barley. Monocot tissue culture and genetic engineering, epigenetic research related to transgene integration and expression. hfkaeppl@wisc.edu

Shawn Kaeppler: Molecular marker mapping theory and application, genetic analysis of disease resistance and yield components in maize, characterization of genome variability in maize tissue culture and field-grown plants, and elucidation of epigenetic mechanisms. smkaeppl@wisc.edu

Kevin Pixley: Maize breeding with emphasis on international development and links between agriculture, nutrition and health. pixley@wisc.edu

William F. Tracy: Genetics, physiology, and breeding of sweet corn for quality and biological efficiency. Application of breeding to superior lines and hybrids. wftracy@wisc.edu

Department of Biochemistry:

Richard Amasino: Regulation of plant development; specifically, floral induction and plant senescence. amasino@biochem.wisc.edu

Sebastian Y. Bednarek: Plant cell biology; intracellular protein trafficking, membrane biogenesis. bednarek@biochem.wisc.edu

Michael R. Sussman: Genetics of Arabidopsis thaliana. Isolation and cloning of genes responsible for nutrient uptake and hormone action. msussman@wisc.edu

Department of Botany:

David A. Baum: Developmental genetics of plant evolution. Phylogeny, biogeography, flower development, and molecular evolution of plants, especially members of the Cotton clade (Malvales). Evolution of inflorescence architecture in Brassicaceae. dbaum@wisc.edu

Donald M. Waller: The evolution of life history traits and breeding systems; ecogenetics; conservation biology. dmwaller@wisc.edu

The Department of Forest Ecology and Management:

Raymond Guries: Genetics of woody plants and forest trees, especially genetic structure and mating systems in wild populations; management and conservation of forest genetic resources; selection and breeding of forest trees; disease resistance breeding of elms. rpguries@facstaff.wisc.edu

Department of Genetics:

John Doebley: Evolution of maize and its wild relatives, the teosintes. Genetic basis of changes in morphology that occurred during maize domestication; examining forces that have shaped the structure and evolution of the maize genome. jdoebley@facstaff.wisc.edu

Patrick H. Masson: Molecular Genetics of Root Gravitropism and Thigmotropism, response of plant and yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to mechanical and osmotic stimuli. pamasson@macc.wisc.edu

Richard Vierstra: Protein turnover in plant cell regulation, ubiquitin, 26S proteasome, autophagy, photmorphogenisis, phytochromosomes. vierstra@wisc.edu

Department of Horticulture:

John B. Bamberg: Genetics of wild and cultivated Solanum species as related to germplasm maintenance and utilization. john.bamberg@ars.usda.gov

Paul Bethke: Potato Physiology. Focus is on the post-harvest physiology of potato tubers. Areas of emphasis include tuber water relations, carbohydrate metabolism, & physiological age. pbethke@wisc.edu

Johanne Brunet: Gene Flow. johanne.brunet@ars.usda.gov

Irwin L. Goldman: DNA marker-based investigation of vegetable crop genetics. Genetic analysis of phytopharmaceuticals. Germplasm enhancement and line development in carrot, onion, and beet. ilgoldma@wisc.edu

Michael J. Havey: Molecular and classical genetics of vegetables, including the unique organellar genetics of Cucumis, anticarcinogenic compounds in the Alliums, and mechanisms of virus resistance. Genetic improvement and inbred development of cucumber and onion. michael.havey@ars.usda.gov

Jiming Jiang: Plant molecular cytogenetics, chromosome structure, potato breeding and genetics. jjiang1@wisc.edu

Shelley Jansky: Potato breeding and genetics; Utilization of wild Solanum species; Ploidy manipulation; Breeding for disease resistance; Reproductive biology. shelley.jansky@ars.usda.gov

Patrick Krysan: Functional genomics using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system. Development of novel technologies for understanding gene function at the genomic level. fpat@biotech.wisc.edu

Brent McCown: Physiology of growth behavior in plants, plant propagation, microculture and micropropagation of plants. Biotechnology of woody perennial crops. Renewable resource management. bhmccown@wisc.edu

James Nienhuis: Breeding and genetics of self-pollinated vegetable crops with special emphasis on snapbeans. nienhuis@wisc.edu

Sara Patterson: Developmental genetics of cell separation and cell adhesion using floral organ abscission in Arabidopsis as a model system. spatters@wisc.edu

Jiwan Palta: Potato breeding and genetics: Acclimatization and cold tolerance, storage and nutritional quality of potatoes, use of lipids in fruit ripening. jppalta@wisc.edu

Philipp Simon: Genetics, breeding and biotechnology of carrot, onion, garlic and cucumber. philipp.simon@ars.usda.gov

David M. Spooner: Evolution and systematics of potatoes and their wild relatives. david.spooner@ars.usda.gov

Dennis Stimart: Genetics and physiology of ornamental plants. dstimart@wisc.edu

Yiqun Weng: Cucumber genetics and breeding: germplasm characterization and enhancement; genetics and genomics of important traits in cucumber, phylogenetics and genomic resources. yiqun.weng@ars.usda.gov

Department of Plant Pathology:

Andrew F. Bent: Molecular basis of plant disease resistance. Gene discovery and structure function analysis of defense induction/signal transduction pathways of Arabidopsis; soybean disease resistance; Arabidopsis and soybean transformation. afb@plantpath.wisc.edu

Dennis Halterman: Molecular analysis of disease resistance in potato and related species. dah@plantpath.wisc.edu

Douglas I. Rouse: Quantitative epidemiology; strategies for breeding for disease resistance. dir@plantpath.wisc.edu

Department of Statistics:

Brian S. Yandell: Biometry, statistical genetics, with particular interest in inference for QTLs in plant breeding byandell@wisc.edu