John Mullet

Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Faculty of Plant Physiology, of Genetics, and of Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences

Phone: (979) 845-0722 Email: jmullet@tamu.edu

B.S. Colgate University (1976)

Ph.D. University of Illinois, Champaign (1980)

Postdoc. Rockefeller University (1980-83)

Joined Texas A&M University in 1983

Functional Genomics and Systems Biology of Plants
Functional genomics, bioinformatics, and DNA chip technology are fundamentally changing research on biological systems. Knowledge of complete genome sequences and high resolution genome technology provide an extraordinary opportunity to understand complex biological processes and to relate detailed understanding of protein structure and biochemical mechanism to the function of whole organisms and biological systems in nature.

Our research team is helping to build genome maps and DNA diagnostic microarrays/chips for analysis of global gene expression and biodiversity. This new technology is being used to explore the molecular basis of several fundamental plant responses: (1) light responsive genetic systems that help protect plants from damage by high intensity UV/blue light; (2) genetic systems that allow plants to adapt to the environment; (3) genes and signal transduction pathways that help protect plants from insects and disease; and (4) genes that regulate plant development (flowering time, fertility restoration, chloroplast development/number).

Buchanan, C. D., Lim, S., Salzman, R., Giannis, Klein, R., Cordonnier-Pratt, M.M., Pratt, L.H., Klein, P.E., Mullet, J.E. (2004) Transcriptome analysis of Sorghum genes induced by ABA and osmotic stress. Plant Physiol. (Submitted).

Buchanan, C.D., Klein, P.E., Mullet, J.E. (2004) Phylogenetic analysis of 5'-non-coding regions from the ABA responsive RAB gene family of sorghum, maize and rice provides insight into the composition, organization and function of cis-regulatory modules. Genetics (In press).

Klein, P.E., Klein, R.R., Vrebalov, J., Mullet, J.E. (2003) Sequence-based alignment of sorghum chromosome 3 and rice chromosome 1 reveals extensive conservation of gene order and one major chromosomal rearrangement. The Plant Journal 34:605-621.

Morgan, P.W., Finlayson, S.A., Childs, K.L., Mullet, J.E., Rooney, W.L. (2002) Opportunities to improve adapability and yield in grasses: lessons from sorghum. Crop Sci. 42: 1791-1799.

Mullet, J.E., Klein, R.R., Klein, P.E. (2001) Sorghum bicolor - an important species for comparative grass genomics and a source of beneficial genes for agriculture. Current Op. Plant Biology 5:118-121.