St. Louis, Missouri
September 20,  2001

Eleven of Seventeen Principal Investigators Now in Place

Today the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced the appointment of four additional leading plant scientists to its growing team of principal investigators.

Dr. Yiji Xia

Dr. Yiji Xia joined the Danforth Center in September 2001. Previously a senior scientist at Akkadix Corporation in La Jolla, California, Dr. Xia received his Ph.D. in genetics from Iowa State University. He held post-doctoral positions at the Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

Summary of Dr. Xia’s research:

When a plant is attacked by a pathogen, a signal is sent from the site of infection to the rest of the plant. This generates physiological changes that help the plant defend itself against invasion. Dr. Xia is working to characterize this signaling mechanism. Such knowledge can be used to develop crops with durable and environmentally friendly disease resistance.

Dr. Christopher G. Taylor

Dr. Christopher G. Taylor will join the Danforth Center in October 2001. Previously a group leader and senior research scientist at Akkadix Corporation in La Jolla, California, Dr. Taylor received his Ph.D. in genetics from North Carolina State University. He conducted post-doctoral research at Monsanto Company.

Summary of Dr. Taylor’s research:

The roots of plants not only take in water and minerals, they also release chemical substances to the soil. Dr. Taylor analyzes the way plants synthesize these chemicals and the roles of these chemicals in deterring pathogens, maintaining symbiotic relationships between the plant and beneficial soil organisms, and causing the soil to release nutrients for use by the plant. He also
searches for genes that can be used to confer resistance in plants to attack by nematodes.

Dr. Jan G. Jaworski

Dr. Jan G. Jaworski will join the Danforth Center in January 2002. Previously a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Dr. Jaworski received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue University and held a post-doctoral position at the University of California, Davis.

Summary of Dr. Jaworski’s research:

Recently, there has been interest in improving the nutritional and economic value of seed oils in such plants as soybean, corn, and canola. Dr. Jaworski investigates the metabolic pathways that plants use to synthesize oils and characterizes components responsible for oil production in plants. This work will facilitate modification of seed oil composition and quantity and lead to new uses for these oils.

Dr. Mark Paul Running

Dr. Mark Paul Running will join the Danforth Center in the spring of 2002. Dr. Running received his Ph.D. in genetics from the California Institute of Technology. He held post-doctoral fellowships for research at the University of California – Berkeley and The Plant Gene Expression Center.

Summary of Dr. Running’s research:

The various parts of a plant develop from meristems, small groups of actively dividing cells. Meristems allow plants to adapt their forms to the environment. Dr. Running studies the genetic characteristics of mutations that change the function of meristems. Such mutations reveal information about how plants germinate, send up shoots, produce flowers, and extend their roots.

The Danforth Center is a not-for-profit research institution that was founded in 1998 as the product of a unique and innovative partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Monsanto Company, Purdue University, and Washington University in St. Louis.

The mission of the Danforth Center is to increase understanding of basic plant biology; to apply new knowledge for the benefit of human nutrition and health and to improve the sustainability of agriculture worldwide; to facilitate the rapid development and commercialization of promising technologies and products; and to contribute to the education and training of graduate and postdoctoral students, scientists, and technicians from around the world.

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