Daniel Voytas featured in New York Times Science Section

(12/30/2009)

Complex relationships among plant immunity pathways defined

(12/11/2009) A study co-authored by Fumiaki Katagiri and Jane Glazebrook (PBIO) with post-docs Kenichi Tsuda and Masanao Sato and then-undergraduate Thomas Stoddard explores the network properties of immunity in plants. The research makes clearer the role of specific “signaling sectors” in supporting certain plant immune responses.

MPGI Director, Nathan Springer, co-author of November 20 Science cover article

(11/23/2009) With help from the newly released DNA sequence of the common corn strain B73, Associate Professor Nathan Springer (PBIO) and colleagues from outside the U compared the genetic sequence of B73 with that of a second inbred strain, Mo17. They discovered an astonishing abundance of two kinds of structural variations between the pair: differences in the copy number of multiple copies of certain stretches of genetic material, and the presence of large chunks of DNA in one but not the other. The findings could lead to the production of true-breeding lines of corn with specific traits for specific uses, which translates to better use of land, fertilizer, fuel and other inputs needed to grow crops, and, ultimately, less environmental impact.

MPGI Equipment grants funded

(10/01/2009) At the end of 2009, MPGI funded eleven grants to be used for the purchase of new pieces of scientific equipment. These grants were bestowed upon MPGI member labs and were used for the purchase of instruments that would benefit MPGI members, as well as the greater University of Minnesota scientific community. Significant pieces of equipment that were acquired include: a Varian Inova 300 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (Wackett), a Light Cycler 480 (Glazebrook), a Lyophilizer (Barney), a Bioscreen HT Growth Analyzer (O’Sullivan), a 96-well plate luminometer (Glazebrook), and a NimbleGen microarray hybridization system (Katagiri/Springer).

Cargill Sculpture Artist Exhibits at Weisman

(4/28/2009) The artist who created the sculpture on display outside the Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics, Eduardo Kac, will be exhibiting work at the Weisman Art Museum through June 21. The title of the sculpture outside the Cargill Building is "Singularis."