Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Plant Sciences
- Fall January 10
- Pullman: Yes
- 550 TOEFL Minimum score
- 80 TOEFLI Minimum score
Degree Description:
Graduate study leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree is offered as an interdepartmental curriculum by graduate faculty from the Departments of Crop and Soil Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Molecular Biosciences, Plant Pathology, Biological Sciences, and the Institute of Biological Chemistry. The objectives of the program are to provide the graduate student with a broad knowledge in molecular plant sciences and with research experience in a chosen area within this discipline. Specialization includes cellular and subcellular physiology, the molecular biology and biochemistry of plant-related processes, photosynthesis and photorespiration, nitrogen fixation, phytochemistry, the physiology of vascular plants, metabolism, plant pathogen interactions, hormonal interactions and regulation of growth, crop production physiology, and physiological ecology as well as related areas in agriculture and biology.
Students entering the program must have completed their baccalaureate degree with training in one year each of elementary biology or botany, and physics, chemistry through one semester of organic chemistry and biochemistry, one semester each of molecular plant sciences and genetics, and mathematics (through calculus). Limited undergraduate deficiencies may be remedied by taking the appropriate courses upon enrollment in the graduate program on a provisional basis.
Degree requirements include courses in molecular biology, advanced molecular plant sciences, plant morphology and anatomy, and metabolism. To meet the minimum requirements of core course credit in the Graduate School, elective courses are chosen as approved by the student’s advisor and the supervising committee of graduate faculty. There is no foreign language requirement. Course requirements are drawn from existing courses offered by MPS and cooperating departments and programs. In addition, a seminar is held weekly during each semester.
Policies and procedures of the Graduate School apply to all admissions. Interested students may direct their inquiries to Molecular Plant Sciences or to any participating faculty member. Should the latter route be followed, preference for the Program in Molecular Plant Sciences must be indicated and, if possible, the research area of interest identified.
The program offers flexibility for students with varied backgrounds in chemistry, biochemistry, molecular plant sciences, molecular biology, botany, genetics, biology, and the agricultural sciences to pursue advanced training in molecular plant sciences, with independent study and original research in areas of the student’s own interests as the single most important component. The interdisciplinary nature of the program assures the student of interaction with molecular plant scientists representing a wide range of research interests and provides the student with a broad choice of specialized facilities which are available in the cooperating academic units.
Students are typically supported by the program during the first academic year. Financial support during subsequent years will be managed by the administering academic unit. Participating faculty may provide support through individual grants and contracts. Every effort will be made to inform applicants of these opportunities.
Student Learning Outcomes:
All graduates will be able to:
- Trainees will gain research expertise that is interdisciplinary, spanning the areas of cellular, molecular and structural biology, and receive focused training in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics or microbiology. This outcome will be demonstrated by their ability to:
- Develop the skills to critically read and evaluate molecular biosciences literature and place new findings in the context of the previous and current research in their general discipline and specific field of expertise.
- Develop testable hypotheses based on an in-depth understanding of previous and current research, and design experimental approaches to successfully test the hypothesis. Evaluate experimental results critically, including quantitative analyses, and formulate a defensible conclusion. Demonstrate technical competency in appropriate methodologies from the disciplines of biochemistry, genetics and microbiology.
- Trainees will have opportunities to master various professional skills, particularly in the areas of communication, mentoring and leadership. Success in this outcome will be demonstrated by students’ ability to:
- Communicate their research results and its importance to experts in their field as well as general lay audiences, effectively in both written and oral form.
- Understand and follow norms of scientific ethics, including concepts of publication ethics and responsible conduct in research.
- Exhibit proficiency in mentoring and teaching, including development of leadership skills.
- SMB will enhance the quality and the number of its graduate student cadre by demonstrating the value of the SMB graduate training experience. Achievement of this outcome will be demonstrated by:
- Maintaining and improving the quality of applicants who are recruited into the SMB graduate program, including successful recruiting of underrepresented minority students and participating in Research Assistantship for Diversity Scholar program (RADS) through the Graduate School and recruiting to NIH-funded pre-doctoral training grants in Protein Biotechnology. Additionally, being proactive in increasing the success of the STARS program.
- Providing effective technical and professional training that allows students to complete their participating in Research Assistantship for Diversity Scholar program (RADS) through the Graduate School and recruiting to NIH-funded pre-doctoral training grants in Protein Biotechnology. Additionally, being proactive in increasing the success of the STARS program.
- Sustaining a research infrastructure built around accomplished, innovative faculty dedicated to research and training in an interdisciplinary environment.
Student Opportunities:
NIH Biotechnology Training Program, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS)
Career Opportunities:
Post-doctoral researcher, research institute scientist, industry scientist, assistant professor (academic track)
Faculty Members:
Bartley, Laura
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular genetics, systems biology, and biochemistry to develop and test hypotheses of grass-diverged aspects of cell wall content biosynthesis and regulation.
Bates, Phil
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Biochemistry and metabolism of plant oils and membrane lipids; Lipid metabolic flux; Engineering plant oils for increased nutrition or chemical feedstocks, and biofuels.
Browse, John A, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Lipid and membrane biochemistry, pathways and regulation of lipid synthesis and membrane formation in higher plants, chilling and freezing tolerance in plants.
Brueggeman, Robert
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular genetics, genomics and functional analysis tools to explore the mechanisms underlying biotic and abiotic stress resistances in barley.
Burke, Ian, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Basic aspects of weed biology and ecology with the goal of integrating such information into practical and economical methods of managing weeds in the environment.
Busch, Jeremiah W, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Plant Evolutionary Genetics
Campbell, Kimberly, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Wheat breeding for winter survival and frost tolerance, characterization of stress resistance genes and mechanisms, & improvement and genotyping of wheat and barley germplasm for the Western U.S.
Carter, Arron Hyrum, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Research is directed toward breeding improved wheat varieties for cropping systems in Washington state that incorporate diverse rotations and environments. New varieties are developed using a combination of traditional plant breeding methods and biotechnology. Research efforts include identifying genetic solutions to winter wheat production problems, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the Washington wheat industry. Farmer participation is utilized in the development of new varieties and in research planning.
Chen, Weidong, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Fungal diseases of grain legumes, ecology and epidemiology of grain legume diseases, genetics of host-pathogen interactions
Cousins, Asaph B, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
The ability to monitor and predict how plants both influence and are influenced by future climatic conditions is critical for the health of our planet and for future food production. My research couples molecular biology techniques with plant physiology and mathematical modeling of photosynthesis to understand the mechanistic processes dictating plant-environment interactions.
Crowder, David, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
The ecology of arthropod communities.
Ficklin, Stephen, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
System genetics
Friesen, Maren
Serves as: chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Biological nitrogen-fixation, evolutionary ecology, population genomics, mathematical modeling.
Gang, David Roger, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Plant specialized metabolism
Gill, Kulvinder, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Understanding the molecular basis of chromosome pairing control in polyploids, genome organization of grass species including localizing and demarcating gene-containing regions, molecular characterization of agronomically important genes including disease resistance genes, and extent and distribution of recombination in crop plants.
Gleason, Cynthia, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Plant parasitic nematodes, root-know nematodes, interactions with host plants.
Hellmann, Hanjo Alfred, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Plant Physiology/Stress Response
Hulbert, Scot Howard, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Management of diseases and pests through genetics and modifications of cropping systems. Genetic and molecular basis of race specific and nonspecific resistance in cereal crops. Methods for the development of cultivars with resistance that remains effective. Molecular mechanisms used by fungal pathogens to attack cereal crops. Development of cropping systems that are profitable but conservation oriented.
Kahn, Michael L, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Biochemistry, genetics and physiology of metabolism in the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between rhizobia and legume plants.
Kalyanaraman, Anantharaman, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Computational biology and bioinformatics; high-performance computing; combinatorial pattern matching.
Kang, Chulhee, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
SR Calcium Regulation in Cardiac Muscle
Biochemical approaches for cancer-associated proteins and UV-damaged DNA to develop anticancer drugs. Enzyme and Plant engineering for effective generation for biofuel.
Kirchhoff, Helmut, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Photosynthesis, Molecular Architecture and Dynamics of Photosynthetic Membranes
Knoblauch, Michael, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Plant Cell Biology and the physiology of plant tissues, especially the phloem
Knowles, Norman R, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Crop growth and development, postharvest physiology and biochemistry of vegetable crops, with a current major emphasis on potatoes
Kunz, Hans Henning, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Investigate chloroplast ion transport and homeostasis, discover and characterize new chloroplast ion transporters, design of organelle specific gene family targeting amiRNA library
Lange, Bernd M, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Characterizing the interface between primary and secondary metabolic pathways, with particular emphasis on the biosynthesis of terpenoids.
Lewis, Norman G, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Bichemistry of natural and medicinal products in plants, biochemistry of plant cell-wall synthesis and unique plant constituents, effects of gravity on metabolic pathways in plants.
McCubbin, Andrew, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
The research in our lab is centered on the developmental processes and signaling events associated plant reproduction. Presently we have 2 main foci, first signaling events involved in pollen tube growth, in particular to role of calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPK’s) in signal transduction in this process. Pollen tubes extend by tip-growth and it is well established that there is a steep tip focused calcium gradient and there is evidence that CDPK isoforms may by involved in downstream signaling events. We are investigating this using negative dominance and catalytically modified CDPK constructs as well as searching for CDPK substrates using the yeast 2-hyrid system.
Neff, Michael, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular, genetic and biochemical approaches to uncover and describe the interactions between various signaling pathways that modulate plant development.
Okita, Thomas W, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Biochemistry of starch synthesis and protein localization; metabolic genetic engineering of plants for increased productivity; mRNA localization and the role of the cytoskeleton and endoplasmic reticulum
Okubara, Patricia, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Host genes governing plant-microbe interactions, molecular basis of disease resistance and biological control of cereal root pathogens
Pappu, Hanu, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Virus genomics and proteomics, plant-virus interactions, molecular epidemiology, crop biotechnology/virus resistant transgenic plants
Peters, John
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Fundamental electron transfer reactions relevant to energy and agriculture
Poovaiah, B W, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Calcium/calmodulinmediated signaling in plants, particularly the functional significance of genes involved in this signal network.
Pumphrey, Michael
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Spring wheat breading and genetics. Genetic dissection of disease resistance, grain quality, and abiotic stress tolerance traits are major research areas.
Roalson, Eric, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular phylogenetics, genomics, and evolutionary origins of characters of interest, notably photosynthetic pathway novelties
Roje, Sanja, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Metabolism of tetrahydrofolate-bound one-carbon units in plastids; biosynthesis of riboflavin in plants
Sanguinet, Karen, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Research focus on factors that modulate growth and development. Study of root architecture of the Pooideae subfamily of temperate grasses using developmental, genetic and genomics approaches.
Smertenko, Andrei, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Our work combines a variety of complex investigative procedures including biochemical techniques, molecular biology, genetics, live cell imaging, and cell biology. The findings of our projects will be harnessed for the development of new technologies aiming at improving traits of crops and industrially important plant species.
Steber, Camille M, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Characterization of stress resistance genes and mechanisms, & improvement and genotyping of wheat and barley germplasm for the Western U.S.
Tanaka, Kiwamu, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular plant-microbe interactions and plant innate immunity
Tegeder, Mechthild, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular and physiological mechanisms of nitrogen transport; regulation of transport; flower/seed development; plant productivity
Thomashow, Linda S, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Molecular genetics of bacterial-plant and bacterial-fungal interactions.
Wyrick, John Jason, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Regulation of eukaryotic genome expression, histone acetylation, and the development of new functional genomic and bioinformatic tools.
Zhang, Zhiwu, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair of graduate committee
Research Interests
Research focusing on developing statistical methods and computing tools to advance biomedical researches toward improved healthcare management and sustainable food production.