Plant physiology and biochemistry make up the backbone of successful horticultural production, and our plant physiology/biochemistry research programs cover a range of areas from whole-plant physiology to plant metabolism and enzymology.
Florida’s climatic diversity and the facilities at UF provide opportunities for research with temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical crops on a nearly year-round basis.
Collaborations with faculty in several departments university-wide showcase integrated research projects that address important issues in plant physiology and biochemistry.
For more information on these programs, see below:
- Kenneth Cline – Structure and function of chloroplasts, chromoplasts and etioplasts
- Rebecca Darnell – Woody plant physiology, nitrogen/iron uptake and assimilation
- Robert Ebel – Citrus physiology; enhancement of mechanical harvesting; investigation of bacterial canker and citrus greening on growth
- Kevin Folta – Functional genomics of small fruit crops; plant transformation, photomorphogenesis and flowering
- Curt Hannah- Maize molecular genetics and physiology; emphasis on the starch biosynthetic pathway
- Andrew Hanson – Metabolic biochemistry and comparative genomics
- Donald Huber – Biochemistry and molecular biology of fruit ripening and senescence
- Harry Klee – Genetics of fruit ripening and quality
- Karen Koch – Physiology and genetics of sugar metabolism, sensing, and partitioning
- Richard Litz – Cell and tissue culture of tropical and subtropical fruit trees; somatic embryogenesis; genetic transformation
- Donald McCarty – Maize genetics
- Bala Rathinasabapathi – Arsenic hyperaccumulation in ferns; metabolic engineering for stress tolerance; stress in biofuel algae
- Bruce Schaffer – Ecophysiology of subtropical and tropical horticultural crops with emphasis on fruit crops; increasing compatibility between agricultural and natural ecosystems.
- James Syvertsen – Environmental stress physiology of citrus
- Eduardo Vallejos – Bean genetics and genomics
