Technologies to enable plant gene editing in tough systemsMany clonally propagated and woody crop species lack efficient transformation systems to deliver gene editing machinery or transgenes.
Even if you can get transgenics, getting the gene editing reagents out of the genome is a major problem when you can't cross them out easily. Common barriers include long juvenile periods before crossing (trees), natural or induced sterility, or desired clonal integrity (hybrids). I'm working to provide solutions in forest trees and specialty crops to help make gene editing easier and more accessible to the agricultural research community. |
Who am I?
I grew up in San Diego, California, but I've spent the last decade-plus in the Pacific Northwest.
In undergrad and my master's at UCSD I trained under Dr. Martin Yanofsky to study flower and plant embryo development. My doctoral studies were in Seattle at UW, where I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Takato Imaizumi. I studied how plants know when to flower -at the intersection of the circadian clock and light signaling. These are important traits in crop domestication to enable cultivation in new latitudes and climates. I'm currently at Oregon State University, in the laboratory of Dr. Steve Strauss. We work on applied biotechnology in forest trees and use gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas. I study transformation and editing method development, but we also develop trees and specialty crops (mostly poplars as a model) with engineered sterility, modifications to plant form and foliage color, and help others answer basic research questions. |
Populus trichocarpa genotypes used for genetic studies to find factors that improve or inhibit regeneration and transformation
Contact Information
Find me on and others on PlantGENE network to see if we can collaborate on editing and transformation projects in your system and the genes that keep you up at night.
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