Seed Grants in Action: Research Making an Impact

"Natural Genetic Variation Underlying PFAS Resilience in Arabidopsis thaliana"

• Yan Chen (PI), Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
• Hui-Kyong Cho (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute

"Defining transcriptional cell states in desiccation tolerant plants with spatial RNAseq"

• Ian S. Gilman (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute
• Jenny Schuster (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Exploring the Roots of Fusarium: A Multi-omics Investigation of Fusarium Infection and Resilience Strategies"

• Asia Hawkins (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, and Plant Biotechnology for Health and Sustainability Program
• Grace Sidberry (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Horticulture and Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Program
• Irene Blanco-Casallas (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Pathology Program

"Helper Bacteria as Tools to Enhance Soybean Nodulation and Support Drought Resilience"

• Maddy Quinlan (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology
• Imani Pascoe (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Defining cell type-specific gene regulatory networks in cultivated tomato"

• Rajneesh Singhal (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology
• Rachel E. Kerwin (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

"Linking Genomic Content and Genetic Variation to Thermal and Nutrient Performance Traits in Cyanobacteria: Implications for Plant Resilience"

• Carol Waldmann Rosenbaum (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Integrative Biology and W.K. Kellogg Biological Station
• Jinny Yang (Co-PI), PRI Postdoctoral Fellow – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute
• Nasser Rabi (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, and W.K. Kellogg Biological Station

"The Role of Plastidial Glycolate/Glycerate Transporter 1 (PLGG1) in Plant Resilience to Pathogens"

• Hiruni Weerasooriya (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory
• Pallavi Agarwal (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Yuan Xu (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Dissecting Geneticc and Epigeneticc Responses to Seed-Borne Pathogens That Reduce Soybean Seed Performance and Resilience"

• Hui-Ching Yang (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

"Mapping Specialized Metabolites and Microbiome Dynamics in Soybean Roots with MALDI-TOF MS"

• Trine Andersen (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

• Alexander Demetros (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Leah Knoor (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Investigating How Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) Cultivation After Maize-Soybean Rotation Shapes Soil Microbiota and Seed Oil Quality Through a Multi-Omics Lens"

• Sydney Chen (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Briana Hashim (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Resilience of Plant-Soil Interactions Under Environmental Stress and Root Herbivory"

• Kaitlin Gattoni (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Moriah Young (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Integrative Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program

• Jordan Ziss (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program

"Volatile Organic Compounds as Drivers of Plant Defense: Genetic Mechanisms, Evolutionary Patterns, and Ecological Relevance of VOC-Mediated Plant Resilience"

• Bailey Kleven (PI), Graduate Student – Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Yuan Xu (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Genetic Potential of Apois americana for Climate-Resilient Agriculture"

• Tomás Lopes (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Program

• Donielle Brottlund (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Genetics and Genome Sciences Program, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Unraveling the mechanism of sulfur signaling in plant growth-resilience tradeoffs"

• Huijia Gong (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genome Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Bailey Kleven (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Deciphering Heat Stress Response Regulation in Arabidopsis Through Multi-Gene Targeting"

• Paulo Izquierdo (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology and DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center

• Jenny Schuster (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Rajneesh Singhal (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology

"Developing stable ovule transformation methods in Boechera stricta and Lindernia brevidens"

• Abigail Jensen (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Molecular Plant Sciences Program

• Derek Denney (Co-PI), PRI Postdoctoral Fellow – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Lauren Stanley (Co-P), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Assessing the Effectiveness of Sorghum's Drought Adaptation Strategies Using Mutant Populations"

• Anuradha Singh (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute

"Cell-Specific Metabolic Remodeling: Mapping C₄ Evolution Through snRNA-seq and Metabolomics in Parallel Intermediate-Rich Lineages"

• Matt Stata (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Beth Holland (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Kelem Alamrie (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant Biology and MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory

"A transgenic ecological approach to understanding anthocyanin function in a plant defense trait"

• Sylvie Martin-Eberhardt (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Program, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Madison Plunkert (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Program, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Establishing the carnivorous genus Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae) as a novel model system of plant resilience research"

• Daniel Mok (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Ian S. Gilman (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Departments of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Genetic manipulation of isoprene synthase to improve soybean resilience to climate change"

• Mohammad G. Mostofa (PI), Assistant Professor-Fixed Term – MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and Plant Resilience Institute

"Investigating the impact of the biological product on the interaction between soybean and the root-associated microbial community in the presence of drought stress"

• Tri Tran (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute

• Danielle Hoffmann (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Investigating the role(s) of plastoglobules in jasmonic acid biosynthesis and herbivore defense"

• Shannon Donnelly (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

• Kiara Chalker (Co-PI), Professional Aide – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Bailey Kleven (Co-PI), Graduate Student – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Sciences Program, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute

"Unravelling the genetic basis of plant adaptation to hypoxia"

• Hui-Kyong Cho (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Resilience Institute

"Developing single cell technologies to explore the spatial dynamics of CAM and C₄ photosynthesis in Portulaca"

• Ian S. Gilman (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Departments of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Investigating loss of genetic diversity in switchgrass, Panicum virgatum"

• Andrew Bleich (PI), Graduate Student – Department of Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

"Transcriptional regulation of growth and chemical defense in Arabidopsis thaliana under a bacterial pathogen attack"

• Kangmei Zhao (PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Danielle Hoffmann (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Plant Biology and Plant Resilience Institute

• Jian Yao (Co-PI), Postdoctoral Researcher – Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and Plant Resilience Institute