Principal Investigator
Dr. Sarah Assmann
Waller Professor of Biology
Dr. Assmann is interested in studying the mechanisms by which plants sense abiotic environmental stresses, and how they respond to and tolerate those stresses. Her research has a specific focus on drought and high temperature and the relationship that those factors have to agriculture.
Researchers
Dr. David Chakravorty
Assistant Research Professor
David works on novel aspects of G protein signaling. From G protein subunit phosphorylation, to nucleotide-independent signaling, to extra-large subunits, he is using plants to discover and study previously unknown G protein signaling mechanisms.
Dr. Ángel Ferrero-Serrano
Assistant Research Professor
Ángel is interested in local adaptation in crops. Initial research is executed in Arabidopsis, but according to the Chakravorty Test, it is inedible and thus serves as a translational approach for crop improvement. Ángel’s aim is to identify loci as a genetic basis of local adaption in naturally evolving species and apply this insight to the growing pool of compiled genetic traits for thousands of crop varieties.
Dr. Hong-Li Chou
Postdoctoral Researcher
Hong-Li’s current research is focused on the role of RNA binding proteins for plant development and RNA structure changes under environmental stress stimulations. Several RBP candidates were chosen for the identification of gene regulation network and for the study of RNA structurome mechanisms in rice and Arabidopsis.
Dr. Palanivelu Sengottaiyan
Postdoctoral Researcher
Palani is currently investigating how G protein signaling interconnects with other known ABA and CO2 signaling components of guard cells using a combination of molecular, biochemical, and physiological based approaches.
Dr. Ling Chen
Postdoctoral Researcher
Ling, co-advised by Dr. Bevilacqua, is focusing on the mechanism of an RNA binding protein in plants under abiotic stress by using RNA sequencing and RNA structure sequencing..
Dave Arginteanu
Research Technologist
With extensive research and managing experience, Dave oversees the wet lab and plant growth chambers for the Assmann lab. Dave is also exploring metabolome temporal changes in response to biotic stresses.
Graduate Students
Megan Sylvia
Ph.D. Student
Megan is a Plant Biology graduate student co-advised by Dr. Bevilacqua. Her research aims to determine the role RNA structure plays in the environmental stress response of crop plants.
Christian Cantos
Ph.D. Student
Christian is committed to improving stress tolerance in rice varieties using CRISPR and other genome editing tools. He is characterizing the CRISPR-knockout of XLG proteins in rice and identifying their role in drought stress response. He also works on harnessing the natural variants of rice RGA1 and XLGs by identifying novel haplotypes across the rice 3K diversity panel.
Yunqing Zhou
Ph.D. Student
Yunqing is a Ph.D. candidate in the MCIBS program and is co-advised by Dr. Assmann and Dr. Jegla. His research focuses on investigating the gating and modulation mechanisms of plant voltage-gated K+ channels using molecular and electrophysiology tools.
Jessica Walnut
Ph.D. Student
Jessica is a Plant Biology graduate student and studies G protein signaling in rice.
David Yu
Ph.D. Student
David Yu is a Biology graduate student co-advised by Dr. Bevilacqua. He is investigating the role of RNA modifications in abiotic stress response of rice.
Kobie Kirven
Ph.D. Student
Kobie is a graduate student co-advised by Dr. Bevilacqua. He is interested in computational tools for large biological data sets.
Noah Kinscherf
Ph.D. Student
Noah is a graduate student interested in G protein signaling in response to abiotic stresses .
Liam Spielmann
Ph.D. Student
Liam is a graduate student interested in in RNA structure-function relationships in abiotic stress response.
Collaborators
Professor Réka Albert
Penn State, Depts. of Physics & Biology
Professor Albert is an expert on analyzing biological networks and collaborates on systems biology projects with the Assmann lab.
Professor Paul Babitzke
Penn State, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Professor Babitzke’s research group is investigating the functional role of RNA structures in prokaryotes.
Professor Phil Bevilacqua
Penn State, Dept. of Chemistry
Professor Bevilacqua is co-leader of the Structure-seq team.
Professor Sixue Chen
University of Mississippi, Dept. of Biology
Professor Chen is interested in the proteomics and metabolomics of plant signaling in response to the environment.
Dr. Amelia Henry
International Rice Research Institute
Dr. Henry leads a drought physiology group and collaborates on rice G proteins and drought tolerance.
Professor Tim Jegla
Penn State, Dept. of Biology
Professor Jegla studies the evolutionary history and function of ion channel gene families.
Professor Toshinori Kinoshita
Nagoya University, Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules
Professor Kinoshita collaborates with our lab on guard cell red light responses.
Professor David Mathews
University of Rochester, Dept. of Biochemistry & Biophysics
Professor Mathews develops algorithms for improved RNA structure prediction to inform structure-function relationships. His lab publishes the critical RNAStructure package that predicts RNA structures.
Dr. Doreen Ware
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USDA ARS
Dr. Doreen Ware is at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and research scientist at the USDA ARS. Our labs collaborate on Arabidopsis riboSNitch detection and further augmenting CLIMtools functionality.
Dr. Ganesh Anand
Penn State, Dept. of Chemistry
We are collaborating with Prof. Ganesh Anand to apply amide hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDXMS) techniques to query the structures of signaling proteins and the complexes that they form
Undergraduate Lab Assistants
Currently none.
Recent Alumni
Name | Position | Current Status |
---|---|---|
Lilyana Hasan | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Kevin Ding | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Andrew Curtis | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Dr. Yotam Zait | Postdoctoral Researcher | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Lena Bartoe | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Erin McGrann | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Katie Maizenberg | Undergraduate assistant | Studying at Penn State |
Eric Baron | Research Technologist | Song Tan’s Lab at Penn State |
Erik Auker | Undergraduate Researcher | Medical School |
Jose “Jolo” Cadiz | Undergraduate Researcher | |
Sarah Cronk | Research Technologist | Staff Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants |
Natalie Hotrum | Undergraduate Lab Assistant | |
Logan Baldwin | Undergraduate Lab Assistant | |
Madeleine LeFevre | Undergraduate Lab Assistant | |
Tim Gilpatrick | Research Technologist | M.S. Student, Penn State Plant Sciences |
Tim Gookin | Postdoctoral Researcher | Wandering Scholar |
Chun Kit Kwok | Ph.D. Student (Chem) | Asst. Professor, City University of Hong Kong |
Lauren Raemore | Undergraduate Lab Assistant | Dental School |
Zhao Su | Postdoctoral Researcher | Postdoc, Professor Ma’s Lab at PSU |
David Tack | Postdoctoral Researcher | Spectrum Health Office of Research |
Yin Tang | Ph.D. Student | Postdoc, Yale University |
Mizuki Yamane | Undergraduate Lab Assistant | PA School |
Pradeep Yerramsetty | Postdoctoral Researcher | Scientist, HELIOS NRG, LLC |
Yunqing Yu | Ph.D. Student | Postdoc, Donald Danforth Plant Science Cente |
Mengmeng Zhu | Postdoctoral Researcher | Research Specialist, Weill Cornell Medicin |
Biswa Acharya | Postdoc | Asst Project Scientist, University of California Riverside |
Fiona Armstrong | Postdoc | Deputy Director, UK Research and Innovation Agency |
Jerome Bove | Postdoc | Science Attaché, Bangalore, French Embassy, India |
Sylvie Coursol | Postdoc | Research Scientist, INRA |
Yiliang Ding | Postdoc | Project Leader, John Innes Center |
Lei Ding | Ph.D. Student | Research Scientist, Bayer Crop Science |
Liumin Fan | Postdoc | Associate Professor, Peking University |
Kate Fairley-Grenot | Postdoc | Board Director, AgriFutures Australia |
Anne Gibson | Research Tech | Retired |
Laura Haubrick | Ph.D. Student | Assistant Professor, Shennandoah Univ. |
Jaebok Heo | Postdoc | Assistant Professor, Dong-A University |
Tobias Jacob | Postdoc | Director, Technology and Applications Support, Leica Microsystems |
Byeong Wook Jeon | Postdoc | Research Scientist, NIHHS |
Xiaofen Jin | Postdoc | Vice President, Right Turn Education |
Cha Young Kim | Postdoc | Senior Researcher, KRIBB, Korea |
Youngsook Lee | Postdoc | Professor, POSTECH, Korea |
Yu-Ruh Lee | Postdoc | Research Scientist, UC Davis |
Jiaxu Li | Ph.D. Student | Professor, Mississippi State Univ. |
Weiwei Li | Ph.D Student | Research Scientist, pharma. |
Vincent Ling | Postdoc | Senior Director, Takeda Pharmaceuticals |
Henk Miedema | Postdoc | Theme Coordinator, Dehydration, Wetsus, WaterCampus Leeuwarden |
Matt Milner | Postdoc | Senior Scientist, NIAB, U.K. |
Carl Ng | Postdoc | Associate Professor, University College Dublin |
Sarah Nilson | Ph.D. Student | Assistant Professor, Penn State Beaver |
Sona Pandey | Postdoc | Associate Member, Danforth Center |
Lisa Romano | Postdoc | Research Specialist, Molecular Devices |
Allison Taylor | Postdoc | Professor, UNC Wilmington. |
Gro Torsethaugen | Postdoc | Adjunct Professor, Penn State |
Daisuke Tsugama | Postdoc | Research Faculty, Hokkaido University |
Laura Ulrich | Postdoc | Center Manager, Center for Lignocellulose Structure & Formation |
Cathy Vandenberg | Lab Manager | Retired |
Xi-Qing Wang | Postdoc | Professor, China Agricultural University. |
Liza Anne Wilson | Research Asst. | Center for Lignocellulose Structure & Formation |
Wei-hua Wu | Postdoc | Professor and Director, State Key Laboratory, China Agricultural University. |
Wei Zhang | Postdoc | Professor, Shandong Univ. |
Zhixin Zhao | Ph.D. Student | Senior Scientist, Predicine |
Laetitia Zurletto | Postdoc | Associate Professor, University Nice Sophia Antipolis |
Pets!
Luka
Often mistaken for a teddy bear.
Coconut
House Cat
Lilo
Complete with Birthday Bandana!
Pella
I love long car rides!
Buttercup
Queen of the house who appreciates being waited on
Miss Marvel
A rambunctious explorer who does not believe in forbidden areas or boundaries!
Doug
The new house master!
Rondo
Our international mascot!
PJ
Screaming kittie
Murtagh
new pupper