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Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics; Professor of Biology
Ph.D., 1993, University of Georgia; M.A., 1986, Columbia; B.S., 1985, University of the Philippines.
Office Address:
| New York University |
| Center for Genomics and Systems Biology |
| Department of Biology |
| 1009 Silver Center |
| 100 Washington Square East |
| New York, NY 10003-6688 |
Email:
Phone: (212) 992-9628
Fax: (212) 995-4015
List of Publications from Pubmed
Lab Homepage
|
Research
Evolutionary and ecological genomics of plant adaptations
Why
do different species look different from one another? How do
developmental patterns change as a result of local adaptation? How are
environmental signals integrated by organisms to condition an
appropriate developmental response? These are some of the questions
that we attempt to address by studying the molecular evolution of genes
that control shoot architecture and inflorescence development in the
wild mustard weed Arabidopsis thaliana. We are engaged in
assessing the evolutionary forces that act in plant developmental
networks at the species level, and in mapping and isolating genes that
underlie natural variation in shoot architectures and life histories.
This work combines concepts and techniques in evolutionary and
quantitative genomics, developmental biology and evolutionary ecology.
Research includes studying the evolution and ecology of inflorescence
development, the evolution of meristem allocation patterns, and the
molecular population genetics of the flowering time network in
Arabidopsis. We are also interested in exploring the “ecological
transciptome” – the dynamic gene networks found in plants in ecological
environments
Genetics of Plant Domestication
Crops
are plant species that have evolved in a cultural context to provide
food and other products for human society. Crop species are fascinating
subjects for evolutionary study, since they are examples of species
that have undergone rapid diversification under intense selection
pressures. They also permit us to understand the dynamic interface
between genetics, evolution and human culture. We are studying the
evolution of genes in rice (Oryza sativa). By using tools of
molecular and evolutionary genomics, these studies provide insights
into the processes and mechanisms that accompany cultural selection on
plant species during domestication events. Check out the rice
evolutionary genomics website!
The Nature of Selection in Plant Genomes
Adaptations
require selection on genes, and we are interested in examining patterns
of selection in Arabidopsis and rice loci. We have developed genomic
tools and approaches to identify and study rapidly evolving genes whose
products have high rates of protein evolution, as well as genes that
display unusually high diversity within the species. We are also
studying the molecular population genetics and evolution of duplicate
genes in the genome. The population genetics and functions of these
genes are being studied both by molecular analysis of sequence
variation and by functional studies using expression analyses, promoter
construct fusions and T-DNA insertion knock-outs.
Funding:
Work
in my laboratory is funded by grants from the NSF Plant Genome Research
program, the NSF Emerging Frontiers Program, and the Guggenheim
Foundation.
Collaborators:
Johanna
Schmitt (Brown), Rick Amasino (University of Wisconsin), Steve Welch
(Kansas State), Carlos Bustamante (Cornell), Susan McCouch (Cornell),
Scott Williamson (Cornell), Barbara Schaal (Washington University) and
Scott Jackson (Purdue)
Biosketch
Dr. Michael
Purugganan received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of the
Philippines (1985), an M.A. from Columbia University (1986) and a Ph.D.
in Botany with a Global Policy minor at the University of Georgia
(1993). After obtaining his Ph.D., he did postdoctoral research as an
Alfred P. Sloan Molecular Evolution Fellow at the University of
California in San Diego, studying the evolution of development
(1993-1995). Dr. Purugganan is a leader in the field of Evolutionary
and Ecological Genomics and his work focuses on identifying the
molecular basis for evolutionary adaptations that occur in nature.
Prior to joining the NYU faculty in 2006, he was the William Neal
Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Genetics at North Carolina State
University, where he also won the Outstanding Faculty Research Award
and the Sigma Xi Research Prize. He has authored over sixty
peer-reviewed publications, including papers in Science, Nature, Genetics, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. He was also profiled in the January 9, 2003 issue of Nature.
He is the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Young Investigator
Award (1997-2002), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2006-2007) and in 2005 was
elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. He is the PI on several multimillion-dollar genome grants from
NSF for his research on rice and Arabidopsis genomics. He is a member of The Faculty of 1000, and Associate Editor of Molecular and Developmental Evolution and Molecular Ecology.
Areas of Research/Interest
Plant Evolutionary Genomics
External Affiliations
American Association for the Advancement of Science; Genetics Society of America and Society for Molecular
Biology and Evolution
Fellowships/Honors
Guggenheim Fellow (2006 - 2007); Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Elected 2005); Sloan Young Investigator (1997-2002)
Publications
