Journal Club
Light Regulation of Plant Growth and Development
Building LED Light Sources for Plant Research
Spectra of Light Sources Used in Published Experiments
connect to strawberry data at the genome database for Rosaceae
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National Center for Science Education
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Kevin M. Folta
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 1998, University of Illinois at
Chicago Lab: 2308 Fifield Hall
Teaching -
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News from the Laboratory HHMI-Sponsored Summer Internships download this PDF! deadline 2-15-08!
The image above shows Green Fluorescent Protein engineered into strawberry as a visible marker to escort constructs of interest. We currently are installing hundreds of constructs to increase production, improve fruit quality, enhance fruit nutrition, or limit environmental impacts of farming. (the image has been stitched together from multiple smaller images using Photoshop)
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Podcast: Transgenic Systems in Strawberry Research Photoperiodic Flowering in Strawberry
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Research Programs
Kevin M. Folta received a B.S.. from Northern Illinois University (1989), a M.S. from Northern Illinois University (1992), and a Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1998) with Lon Kaufman. He completed post-doctoral research under the direction of Edgar Spalding at the University of Wisconsin, then joined the Horticultural Sciences Department faculty at the University of Florida in November of 2002. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program and is always uncomfortable referring to himself in the third person.
Arabidopsis thaliana is a model plant that uses light to initiate the developmental program of photomorphogenesis. Phytochrome, cryptochrome, phototropin and other photoreceptors mediate these responses. We have used microarrays to study how blue, red, and green light contribute to light-regulated development. We have found that light has an influence on the hormones auxin and gibberellic acid to change growth pattern. Gene expression changes note differences in the chloroplast and nucleus when an etiolated seedling initiates autotrophic growth. Octoploid strawberry genetics and physiology will be better understood once we have completed bioinformatics analysis of EST libraries. This information will aid in structural and functional genomics studies in Fragaria vesca and Fragaria ananassa and Fragaria x ananassa. We have identified LF9, a Florida strawberry genetic line that is capable of unprecedented transformation speed and frequency. Transformation of strawberry will be important to understanding gene function, genomics, structural, translational and functional.
contact:
kfolta 'at' ifas.ufl.edu
Horticultural Sciences Department
1301 Fifield Hall
PO Box 110690
Gainesville, FL 32611
NEW PHONE NUMBERS!!!
352-392-1928
ext 269 office
ext 270 lab