Research programs in plant molecular, cellular and developmental biology range from seeking a fundamental understanding of plant form and function to developing novel strategies for crop improvement. Faculty in this area apply molecular genetics and functional genomics to understand plant growth and development. This knowledge is then incorporated into projects ranging from using metabolic engineering to enhance nutritional quality to understanding plant function at the organelle level. Researchers in the PMCB area are also involved in the Plant Innovation Program at UF, which seeks to understand how flavor and aroma contribute to perceived fruit and vegetable quality.  Interaction with departmental breeding and other programs result in interdisciplinary approaches to research.

Find out more about our PMCB program by visiting our PMCB website or from a faculty member below:

• Elias Bassil - Functional genomics; stress physiology, ion homeostasis, endomembrane trafficking
• Christine D. Chase - Molecular genetics; pollen development; organelle genetics biogenesis and function
• Manjul Dutt - Citrus improvement
• Robert J. Ferl - Space biology; examination of 14-3-3 proteins; examination of chromatin structure
• Kevin M. Folta - Functional genomics of small fruit crops; plant transformation, photomorphogenesis and flowering
• Fred Gmitter - Breeding and genetics, citrus, genomics
• L. Curtis Hannah - Maize molecular genetics and physiology; emphasis on the starch biosynthetic pathway
• Tie Liu - Postharvest Genomics, Potato Tuber Dormancy, Stress Biology, Meristem Development
• Andrew D. Hanson - Metabolic biochemistry and comparative genomics
• Jeongim Kim - Plant metabolism and stress physiology
• Harry J. Klee - Genetics of fruit ripening and quality
• Karen E. Koch - Physiology and genetics of sugar metabolism, sensing, and partitioning
• Donald R. McCarty - Maize genetics
• Patricio Munoz - Blueberry, breeding and genomics, and quantitative genetics
• Anna-Lisa Paul - Space biology, transcriptomics, chromatin structure
• Bala Rathinasabapathi - Arsenic hyperaccumulation in ferns; metabolic engineering for stress tolerance; stress in biofuel algae
• A. Mark Settles - Signaling in seed development; functional genomics in maize
• Masaharu Suzuki - Molecular genetics of seed development
• C. Eduardo Vallejos - Bean genetics and genomics