Department of Biological Science

Hank W. Bass
Meiosis in higher plants; telomere dynamics; molecular cytology; maize chromatin, nuclease sensitivity profiling, G4-DNA, and genome replication. Work primarily on maize.

Hongchang Cui
Cell fate specification and reprogramming in plants; evolutionary and developmental biology; plant-environment interaction; genomics and epigenomics; proteomics; molecular genetics.

Jonathan H. Dennis
The biology of chromatin involved in the innate immune response.

Austin Mast
My research program involves topics within the broadly defined area of biodiversity study. I am particularly interested in (1) the interplay of ecology and evolution that determines the form and function of plant life on Earth, (2) the use of biodiversity research specimens and digital information about them to bring that interplay into sharper focus, and (3) public engagement in the research to further science and STEM literacy goals

Kathryn M. Jones
I study the symbiotic interaction of nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria with legume host plants: 1)How bacteria manipulate their environment during host plant invasion such that the plant not only permits entry, but provides an invasion pathway for them; 2)Why the interactions of specific strains of Sinorhizobium with particular Medicago truncatula plant ecotypes are more productive than others; 3)How plants direct resources to productive symbionts at the expense of unproductive ones (cheaters).

Steven Lenhert
Biological membranes; cell-substrate interactions; bionanotechnology.

Karen M. McGinnis
Epigenetic gene regulation in maize.

Alice A. Winn
I am interested in how plants adapt to environments that vary in time and space, and how this contributes to patterns of phenotypic variation within and among individuals and populations. Major topics of research in my lab include the ecology and evolution of phenotypic plasticity, processes that promote or inhibit local adaptation, and the evolution of plant mating systems.