IIGB professor of cell biology Zhenbiao Yang led a research project that demonstrated the existence of an extracellular auxin sensing system in plants and uncovered the decades-long mystery of how this system works to control plant developmental processes. Study results appear in the Feb. 28, 2014 issue of Science. Auxin is understood to be the...

Irma Ortiz, whose parents immigrated to the US from Mexico, is the first in her family to graduate from college. Today, Irma is a Ph.D. graduate student in IIGB geneticist Linda Walling’s lab, where she and her lab-mates identify and deploy gene-based strategies for insect resistance in plants. Ortiz grew up in Panorama City, Calif...

IIGB researchers are members of an international team — the Amborella Genome Sequencing Project — that has sequenced the genome of the Amborella plant. The genome sequence sheds new light on the origin of flowering plants, including all major food crop species. Susan Wessler, a distinguished professor of genetics, led the IIGB team of members...

Trying to understand the biology of the malaria parasite Pasmodium, IIGB researchers led by associate professor Karine Le Roch have discovered low levels of DNA methylation in Plasmodium’s genome that may be critical to the survival of the parasite. A paper about the findings of Le Roch and her team, titled “Genome-wide Mapping of the...

The opening of the second phase of the Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory was celebrated Friday, November 1, 2013. Located in the University Laboratory Building, the Campbell Learning Laboratory is named after a well-known biologist, author, and UC Riverside alumnus. The lab is home to “ The Dynamic Genome,” a laboratory-intensive learning program funded...

Researchers led by IIGB microbiologist Shou-wei Ding have discovered that, like plants and invertebrate animals, mammals use the RNA interference (RNAi) process to destroy viruses within their own cells. Their findings will be published in the Oct. 11 2013 issue of the journal Science. Until now, scientists were unable to prove that mammals use RNAi...

A research team led by Sean Cutler, an IIGB/CEPCEB plant cell biologist, has found a new drought-protecting chemical that shows high potential for becoming a powerful tool for crop protection in the new world of extreme weather. Named “quinabactin” by the researchers, the chemical mimics a naturally occurring stress hormone in plants that helps the...

IIGB/CEPCEB cell biologist Karine Le Roch is the principal investigator of a $2M NIH grant to discover the 3-D structure of the malaria parasite’s genome during the erythrocytic cycle that is responsible for disease in humans. Her lab will work closely with the lab of William Stafford Noble, a professor of genome sciences at the...

IIGB/CEPCEB professor and chemist Yinsheng Wang is the first person at UC Riverside to receive the Biemann Medal, awarded by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) to an individual early in his/her career in recognition of significant achievement in basic or applied mass spectrometry. Wang received the medal and gave an award lecture earlier...

IIGB/CEPCEB Chemist Yinsheng Wang will give a talk on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in Rooms C, D and E, University Extension Center (UNEX), on the mechanisms of action of some commonly used anticancer drugs and how laboratory research may lead to novel targets and new strategies for cancer treatment. Seating is open...

Renowned IIGB/CEPCEB geneticist Susan Wessler has been elected a member of the American Philosophical Society (APS), the country’s first learned society. She is the first faculty member at UC Riverside to be elected a member of the APS. The APS has played an important role in American cultural and intellectual life for more than 250...

IIGB/CEPCEB researcher Xuemei Chen has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her excellence in original scientific research. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Elected along with 83 other new members and 21 foreign associates from...

On May 2, 2013, IIGB geneticist Linda Walling will give a free lecture titled “Friends and Enemies: Dynamic Interactions of Plants and Insects” at 5:30 pm in Rooms C, D and E, University Extension Center (UNEX) as part of the second annual Science Lecture Series hosted by CNAS. This year the theme is “The Science...

IIGB Director Natasha Raikhel was announced the recipient of the 2013 American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Adolph E. Gude, Jr., Award. This monetary award is granted every three years in recognition of outstanding service to the plant biology field. Raikhel is being recognized for making lasting scientific contributions to plant biology with her studies...

IIGB researcher Susan Wessler was the recipient of a 2013 American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Fellow award, granted in recognition of distinguished and long-term contributions to plant biology and service to the Society. Wessler was recognized for her pioneering work involving the identification and study of plant transposable elements and the roles of these...

A team of IIGB scientists led by geneticist Xuemei Chen have conducted a study on plants (Arabidopsis) showing that the site of repression of target gene expression occurs on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a cellular organelle that is an interconnected network of membranes. Study results appear in the journal Cell. RNA molecules, made from DNA...

IIGB/CEPCEB researcher and associate professor of plant pathology and microbiology Hailing Jin has potentially developed early diagnosis markers for “citrus greening” or Huanglongbing (HLB) – probably the most devastating citrus disease threatening the global citrus industry. Her findings will appear in the journal Molecular Plant in which she reports having profiled small ribonucleic acid (sRNA)...

IIGB/CEPCEB Chemist Michael Pirrung announced the development of a compound with the potential to fight renal cancer in a lecture he gave on Feb. 19 at the 5th International Conference on Drug Discovery and Therapy, held in Dubai, UAE. Named TIR-199, the compound targets the “proteasome,” a cellular complex in kidney cancer cells, similar to...

CEPCEB celebrated its 10th anniversary with a full-day symposium Friday, December 14, 2012 in the Genomics Auditorium! The program featured five external speakers, including the Noel T. Keen Lecturer, and three CEPCEB speakers. The day also included lunch and refreshments, our awards ceremony honoring outstanding research achievements by CEPCEB lab members, closing statements, and a...

An international effort involving approximately 70 scientists in nine countries (Germany, UK, Australia, USA, Finland, Japan, Israel, France, Italy) with nine working at UCR developed a high-resolution genomic resource for barley that could potentially help produce higher yields, improve pest and disease resistance, and enhance its nutritional value. IIGB/CEPCEB researchers Timothy Close and Stefano Lonardi...