Tags: plant biology

photo green algae
Study provides framework for 1 billion years of green plant evolution

Gene sequences for more than 1,100 plant species have been released by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists, the culmination of a nine-year research project. The One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative (1KP) is a global collaboration to examine the diversification of plant species, genes and genomes across the more than 1 billion-year history of green plants dating back to the ancestors of flowering…

photo of woman with garden pergola
Amazing student: Sarah Saddoris

For plant biology major and Goldwater Scholar Sarah Saddoris, research has played a primary role in defining her goal to improve the production of the global food supply: As my primary focus, research has played a defining role in my studies. I have spent my fair share of Friday nights in the lab finishing experiments at 2 in the morning and many game days in Davison Life Sciences (benchwork waits for no man!). I have…

photo of four people, with Old College in background
Kudos, September 2019

Fulbright grants, SEC Leadership Development and excellence in research, visual art and career experiences for graduate students highlight Franklin College awards and achievements in September. Congratulations all: Get Installed: Installation at Valdosta State University by Jon Swindler, associate professor of art and associate director of Lamar Dodd School of Art, and Mike McFalls, professor of art at Columbus State University…

photo of woman with plant leaves
Katrien Devos recognized as Fellow of Crop Science Society of America

Professor of crop and soil sciences and plant biology Katrien M. Devos has been named a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America: Her nomination and selection as a CSSA Fellow recognizes a career dedicated to breaking new ground in understanding the genetics and evolutionary biology of crops and in the search for more resilient and sustainable crop varieties. From mapping the genomes of orphan crops, like finger and foxtail millet, to…

address to joint session of congress - photo
Noted and quoted, January 2019

Franklin College faculty appeared in a wide variety of media over the month of January: New method to classify schizophrenia symptoms should improve care - assistant professor of psychology Gregory Strauss quoted by Psych Central   Scientists could engineer a spicy tomato. Is it worth it? Research by professor of plant biology Esther van der Knaap reported in Popular Science, Tahlequah Daily Press…

photo of tree in forest
Diverse lineages of human pathogen live on old oaks

Commensalism is a term for one kind of biological relationship between species in which members of one gain benefits while those of the other neither benefit nor are harmed, contrasted with mutualism or parasitism. One obligate commensal is a common human fungal pathogen, the yeast Candida albicans, and the focus of new paper by assistant professor of plant biology Douda Bensasson published in…

photo of a red pitcher plant
Franklin faculty publish first genetic linkage map for a carnivorous plant

Researchers in the UGA department of plant biology have published the first genetic linkage map for what has long-been an object of human fascination: plants that have evolved the capacity to capture and digest insects. Lead author Russell Malmberg explains: "We normally think of plants as being eaten by animals, but a small number of plant species have reversed this and are able to capture and digest insects. These…

photo of many potatoes, with several cut open
Just in time for Thanksgiving: new data on the sweetpotato

A globally important food crop as well as a staple at every* American Thanksgiving table, Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) has widely recognized potential to alleviate hunger, vitamin A deficiency, and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Biofortification with pro-vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) in SSA has led to millions of Africans being spared the devastating effects of vitamin A deficiency, a main cause of…

photo of man in lab coat and tie
Rishi Masalia named 2018 Cross Scholar

Congratulations to Rishi Masalia, Ph.D. candidate in the department of plant biology, who has been named one of seven K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders for 2018 by the American Association of Colleges and Universities for his commitment to teaching and learning, as well as his involvement in science outreach in the Athens community. Masalia is the fifth UGA student to win the award. A biologist and bioinformatician by training, his area of…


State of Black America 2014

The National Urban League has published the 38th edition of The State of Black America, a book with essays by some of our nation's leading thinkers, including our own J. Marshall Shepherd: the State of Black America®– One Nation Underemployed: Jobs Rebuild America – underscores a reality the National Urban League knows all too well – that the major impediments to equality, empowerment and mobility are jobs, access to a living wage and wealth…
Subscribe to plant biology

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Click here to learn more about giving.

Every dollar given has a direct impact upon our students and faculty.