Membership in Graduate Groups:
Plant Biology,
Soil Sciences

Throughout their life cycle, plants have to adapt to changeable environmental conditions, including light, temperature, pathogens, moisture, salt, etc. These adaptive responses operate at the cellular and subcellular levels in a rapid time scale, and take place via the recognition of intercellular and intracellular signaling molecules. Signal transduction pathways, i,e, the mechanisms by which these signaling molecules exert their effects, involve the coordinated action of receptors (that perceive the signals) at the cell membranes followed by the release of "secondary messengers" that affect (directly or indirectly) a number of protein activities. The activation of these proteins promotes an array of inducible responses that contributes to the adaptation of plants to restrictive conditions. Through an integrated approach that combines biochemistry, physiology, electrophysiology, molecular biology, genomics and proteomics we are characterizing the different signaling components downstream of the initial recognition events aiming at the identifying the cellular network required for the activation of the many adaptive responses of plants to biotic and abiotic stress.

We are also identifying genes encoding proteins that play a fundamental role in the adaptation and survival of plants to high salinity. We are manipulating these genes to obtain salt tolerant transgenic plants.

Selected Publications (last three years):
Lam, B.C-H, Sage, T.L., Bianchi, F. & Blumwald, E. (2001). Role of SH3 domain- containing proteins in clathrin-mediated endocytosis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell 13:2499-2512.

Zhang, H-X. Hodson, J., Williams, J.P. & Blumwald, E. (2001). Engineering salt- tolerant Brassica Plants: Characterization of yield and seed oil quality in transgenic plants with increased vacuolar sodium accumulation.. Proceedings National Academy Sciences USA 98:12832-12836.

Zhang, H-X. & Blumwald, E .(2001). Transgenic salt tolerant tomato plants accumulate salt in the foliage but not in the fruits. Nature Biotechnology 19:765-768.

Palma, D.A., Blumwald, E . & Plaxton, W.C. (2000). Upregulation of vacuolar H+- translocating pyrophosphatase by phosphate starvation of Brassica napus (rapessed) suspension cultures. FEBS Letters 486:155-158.

Snedden, W.A. & Blumwald, E. (2000). A calmodulin-binding diacylglycerol kinase from tomato is produced by alternative splicing at its calmodulin-binding domain. Plant Journal 24:317-326.

Blumwald, E. 2000) Salt transport and salt resistance in plants and other organisms. Current Opinion Cell Biology 12:431-434.

Marshall, J.G., Beardmore, T., Whittle, C.A., Wang, B., Rutledge, R.G. & Blumwald, E. (2000). Delay of germination of silver maple (Acer sacharinum. L seeds by paclobutrazol. Canadian Journal Forestry Research 30: 557-565.

Marshall, J.G., Rutledge, R.G. Blumwald, E. & Dumbroff, E.B (2000). A reduction in turgid Water volume in pine and spruce in response to prolonged drought or paclobutrazol. Tree Physiology .20:701-707.

Blumwald, E., Aharon, G.S. & Apse, P. (2000) Na+ transport in plant cells. Biochimia Biophysics Acta 1465:140-151.

Apse, M.P., Aharon, G.S., Snedden, W.A. & Blumwald, E. (1999). Overexpression of a vacuolar Na+/H+ antiport confers salt tolerance in Arabidopsis. Science 285:1256-1258.

Marshall, J.G., Dumbroff, E.B., Thatcher, B.J., Martin, B., Rutledge, R.G. & Blumwald, E.(1999). Synthesis and insolubilization of cell wall proteins during osmotic stress. Planta 208:401-408.

Glenn, E., Brown, J.J. & Blumwald, E . (1999). Salt-tolerant mechanisms and crop potential of halophyes. Critical Reviews Plant Science 18:227-255.

Dept. of Pomology
University of California
1035 Wickson Hall
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616-8683

Tel: (530) 752-0122
Fax: (530) 752-8502
E-mail: fruitsandnuts@ucdavis.edu
blumwald.htm updated February 8, 2002