10:40 AM - 11:20 AM

<aside> <img src="/icons/map-pin_green.svg" alt="/icons/map-pin_green.svg" width="40px" /> DPB Seminar Room + Zoom (DGE Conference Room, Solarium, DGE Lobby, Library)

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<aside> <img src="/icons/megaphone_green.svg" alt="/icons/megaphone_green.svg" width="40px" /> Chair by: Frej Tulin

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<aside> <img src="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" alt="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" width="40px" /> Molecular Sugar Recognition from Plant Physiology to Human Health

Lily Cheung - Georgia Tech

10:40 AM - 10:53 AM

Humans sustain themselves by releasing the solar energy that plants store in sugars. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, for human and plant proteins to recognize sugar molecules via conserved mechanisms, but how to systematically study these mechanisms is less evident. In this talk, I will discuss the use of biomolecular sensors and machine learning to characterize the substrate specificity of two seemingly different proteins (an Arabidopsis thaliana sugar transporter and a human intestinal α- glucosidase) and the potential implications of our results for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" alt="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" width="40px" /> Aging, senescence, and stress in plants: what we have learned from Arabidopsis to horticultural crops?

Tie Liu - University of Florida

10:53 AM - 11:06 AM

The shoot apex contains distinct zones that maintain stem cells or initiate cellular differentiation, and proper coordination between these processes is essential for shoot meristem function. In earlier work using Arabidopsis, we studied the homeobox gene SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM), a key regulator of shoot apical meristem formation and maintenance. Analysis of STM downstream targets revealed numerous stress-responsive genes, highlighting how plants integrate developmental regulation with environmental signals. Building on this foundation, our current research focuses on understanding stress-associated gene networks and senescence processes in horticultural crops, particularly those affecting postharvest quality. We investigate how environmental stress, hormonal signaling, and metabolic changes regulate tissue senescence and quality deterioration in crops such as Brassica vegetables and fruit crops. Using approaches that integrate quantitative genetics, multi- omics, advanced phenotyping, and genome editing, our work aims to identify key genes and regulatory pathways controlling postharvest senescence. Ultimately, these studies provide new insights into hormone crosstalk and tissue-specific signaling while generating genetic and molecular tools that support crop improvement, extended shelf life, and reduced postharvest losses.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" alt="/icons/music-artist_green.svg" width="40px" /> Allele Design for Crop Improvement: Gene Editing Tunable and Genetically Dominant Yield Component Improvement in Maize

Devin O'Connor - Colorado State University

11:06 AM - 11:20 AM

The advent of new genome editing tools has enabled the controlled deployment of mutation for crop improvement. New tools offer precise control of DNA nucleotide sequence and the potential for rational allele design. In this presentation I will discuss two allele design properties, allele tunability and genetic dominance, and how they are essential to rational crop improvement with gene editing. Specifically, I will show how DNA base editing members of the repressive CLV/WUS stem-cell signaling complex can engineer a tunable and genetically dominant improvement in maize kernel row number, a key yield component trait. In parallel I will discuss the general effectiveness of gene-editing in industrial crop improvement, and how we need to continue to advance inventive exchange between academic and applied science.

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