Research Papers: Current

Current | Archived

Dr. Hiro Nonogaki
Horticulture Department
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon

541-737-8885
hiro.nonogaki@oregonstate.edu

Title: Molecular Mechanisms of Seed Germination and Seedling Establishment

Elucidate the molecular mechanisms of seed germination and seedling establishment to understand the early events in plant production. Identify and characterize key transcription factors and other regulatory factors, which play potentially important roles in seed dormancy, germination and seedling establishment in Arabidopsis. The information obtained from Arabidopsis will be transferred to tomato, a model species for seed germination research. For production and quality control of high performance seeds, it is essential to well “understand” the mechanisms of number of events in seeds. This basic research project aims to provide the information for the future seed biology and business.

Dr. Alan Taylor
Professor of Seed Science and Technology
Department of Horticultural Sciences
NYSAES
Cornell University
Geneva, New York 14456

315-787-2243
agt1@nysaes.cornell.edu

Title: Seed Coat Permeability and Uptake of Applied Systemic Compounds

The goal of this project is to better understand the diffusion and uptake of systemic compounds into seeds during germination and early seedling growth. Systemic compounds are of particular importance as they may be used in seed disinfection methods to eradicate seed-borne pathogens or incorporated into seed priming to further enhance seed performance. Moreover, many new chemistry seed treatments that are being actively pursued by the seed treatment industry have systemic activity to control insects and diseases. Collectively, it is unknown if compounds with systemic activity can diffuse through the seed coats or may be restricted by barriers in the seed coat.

Title: Nanotechnology: Single Copy DNA/RNA Detection in the Field

There is an urgent need for real-time biological detection systems that combine speed, sensitivity and specificity. Currently no assay can simultaneously meet all three of these performance objectives and the problem is with the assay rather than with the readout platform of the system. If an assay were developed that could meet all three, it would allow for the development of a wide variety of detection/monitoring systems, with applications that include rapid, stand-alone biosensors, field portable instruments or devices for in-field detection or identification, diagnostic instruments capable of deployment outside of the laboratory, and even rapid dipsticks capable of broad spectrum pathogen detection and ID in minutes at the point of sampling. The overall objective is to develop an assay with broad applications that can detect DNA or RNA in field situations without PCR amplification.