Welcome!

arabidopsisThe Plant Gene Expression Center (PGEC) conducts fundamental research in plant molecular biology. Researchers are elucidating the signal transduction pathways responsible for the perception of environmental and cellular cues. We are exploring disease resistance, light perception, the circadian clock, vegetative growth and the plant-associated microbiome. Essential genes and the networks within which they operate are elucidated using molecular, genetic and biochemical approaches.

The PGEC is a collaboration of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Plant & Microbial Biology Department of the University of California, Berkeley. The Center's principal investigators are faculty at UC Berkeley, and research opportunities are available in our laboratories for graduate and undergraduate students.

Collaborations with Former Postdocs Yield Publications

pollen tube forming blebs
Two recent papers in Plant Cell refine the roles of pollen receptor kinases and their protein interactors during pollen tube growth. The senior author on both papers (Dr. Weihua Tang, now a Professor at Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology) was a postdoc in Sheila McCormick's lab. Another former postdoc (Dr. Jorge Muschietti, now a Professor at Univ. Buenos Aires) is also an author on one of the papers. Click "Read more" for links to the papers. Posted 09/08/2014.

Welcome to PMB rotation students

First year graduate students in the Dept. of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC-Berkeley spend 10 weeks each in 3 different labs, before selecting a home for their thesis project. For the first rotation, Alyssa Anderson is in the Hake Lab, Johan Jaenisch is in the Fletcher Lab and Daniel Wescott is in the Lewis Lab. Posted 09/04/2014.

Quail Lab Specialist to Retire

picture of Jim Tepperman
Jim Tepperman, who has worked in the Quail lab since 1989, will retire effective Sept. 30th, 2014. Before joining Peter's lab, Jim worked for 3 years in the Briggs lab at the Carnegie Institution for Science, at Stanford, where he was introduced to the wonders of phytochrome. He then worked for 5.5 years at one of the first plant biotech companies, Advanced Genetics Sciences (later called DNA Plant Technology), in Oakland. In recent years Jim has focused on analyzing the transcriptional networks in phytochrome signaling. Click "Read more" to find out about his retirement plans. Posted 09/04/2014.

George Chuck Awarded NSF Plant Genome Grant

The funding ($870,000, for 4 years) will support a project to identify the genetic pathways that control the formation of tillers (side branches) in wild and domesticated panicoid crop plants (e.g. corn and sorghum). Posted 07/29/2014.

Grant to Study Signaling Proteins

flower
Principal Investigator Jennifer Fletcher has been awarded an $431, 600 grant from the National Science Foundation, to explore the ways in which mobile signaling proteins orchestrate the complex process of leaf formation, which may ultimately be used to improve the yields of agricultural and biofuel crops by maximizing leaf biomass. Posted 04/10/2014.

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