This page briefly describes the major research
categories of the Plant and Microbial Biology Department, in
alphabetical order.
Biophysicists use models and techniques from
physics, mathematics, computer science, and statistics to
investigate biological systems at levels ranging from molecules
through organisms to ecosystems. For example, they may apply
fluorescent imaging techniques in the
Biological Imaging Facilty
to visualize biological structures.
Computational biologists use models and
techiniques from computer science, statistics, and mathematics
to study topics such as sequence alignment, locating
homologous sequences or genes, protein structure prediction,
structural genomics, RNA and protein classification, and
phylogenetic trees.
Researchers study the patterns and
processes of plant, fungal, and microbial inherited trait change
across generations, and how the environments of organisms
influence these changes.
Genomics researchers study the entire
genomes of organisms, attempting to discover DNA sequences and
map locations of genes within genomes. Functional genomics
examines patterns of gene expression in different
environments.
Researchers apply biochemistry, analytical
chemistry, genetic, molecular and cell biology, and ecological
approaches to understand how viruses and bacteria elicit disease,
and how organisms resist. They may also study how to improve
resistence to infection and slow or prevent disease progression.
Researchers study chromosome structure,
behavior, and patterns and regulation of gene expression in varying
environments in bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Researchers study chromosome structure,
function, and patterns and regulation of gene expression at the
molecular level and organism level in varying environments in
plants.
Researchers study the mechnical, physical,
and biochemical properties of plants, microbes, or fungi. They may
focus on important biological molecules, e.g. the
chemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, or topics such as protein
synthesis, cell membrane transport, and signal transduction.