Emerita Email: susan.wessler@ucr.edu Research Research Interests: Transposable elements in plants with a focus on the characterization of active transposable elements and a determination of how they contribute to genome evolution and adaptation. To address these questions we use a combination of genetic, biochemical and computational approaches. Grants: NSF Plant Genome Research Project: GEPR: Maize Transposable Elements: Discovery, Description and Functional Characterization. 9/1/06 - 8/31/11. Howard Hughes Medical Institute: HHMI Professors: The Dynamic Genome: Teaching Evolution to Undergraduates. 9/1/06 - 8/31/10. Selected Publications Selected Publications: Yang, G., Holligan,D., Feschotte, C., Hancock, C.N., Wessler, S.R. (2009) Tuned for transposition: molecular determinants underlying the hyperactivity of a Stowaway MITE. Science 325: 1391-1394. Naito, K., Zhang, F., Tsukiyama,T., Saito,H., Hancock, C.N., Richardson, A.O., Okumoto,Y., Tanisaka,T., Wessler, S.R. (2009) Unexpected consequences of a sudden and massive transposon amplification on rice gene expression. Nature 461: 131-134. Han, Y., Burnette, J., Wessler, S.R. (2009) TARGeT–a web based pipeline for retrieving and characterizing gene and transposable element families from genomic sequence. Nucl. Acid Res 37,11: e78. Hancock, C.N., Zhang, F. and Wessler, S.R. (2009) mPing transposition in yeast provides an assay to examine the PIF/Harbinger superfamily of transposable elements. Mobile DNA (in press) Wei, F. et al (2009) Detailed analysis of a contiguous 22-Mb region of the maize genome. PLoS Genetics (in press) Schnable, et al (Maize Genome Sequencing Consortium (2009) The B73 maize genome: complexity, diversity and dynamics. Science (in press) Yang, G., Zhang, F., Wessler, S.R. (2007) Transposition of the rice MITE mPing in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci .104: 10962-10967. Nato, K., Cho, E., Yang, G., Campbell, M., Yano, K., Okumoto, Y., Tanisaka, T. and Wessler,S.R. (2006) Dramatic amplification of a rice transposable element during recent domestication. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 103: 17620-17625. Holligan, D., Zhang, X., Jiang, N., Pritham, E.J., Wessler, SR (2006) The transposable element landscape of the model legume Lotus japonicus. Genetics 174: 2215-2228. Jiang, N. Zhang, X., Feschotte, C., Wessler, S.R. (2004) Using rice to understand the nature and origin of miniature inverted repeat transposable elements. Curr. Op. Plant Biol 7: 115-119. Education Education: Ph.D Plant Molecular Biology, Cornell University 1980 Other Information Other Affiliations: Rosalind Franklin Society, Board Member Genetics Society of America, Board of Directors National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings Associate Editor American Association for the Advancement of Science American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Board of Reviewing Editiors National Academy of Sciences, Comittee on Women in Science, Engineering and Med…
