Welcome to the Anderson Lab website!

About the Lab

Our lab studies cell wall dynamics in plants. Plant cell walls contain networks of polysaccharides and proteins that interact with each other and change in composition and organization during cell growth and other developmental processes in plants. We seek to measure changes in wall architecture during growth, to understand how interactions between cell wall components influence wall structure and remodeling, and to identify and characterize new genes that influence cell wall dynamics. This research will inform efforts to use plant cell walls, which are an abundant and renewable resource, to provide sustainable food, materials, and energy.

We are affiliated with the Department of Biology, the Plant Biology Interdepartmental Graduate Program, and the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences Interdepartmental Graduate Program at Penn State University. Our research is generously supported by the Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation, a U.S. DOE Energy Frontiers Research Center; the National Science Foundation; the Penn State Department of Biology; and the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment.