Dean DellaPenna

Research Interests

We are in the midst of a golden period for research into plant metabolism. The ongoing development and integration of various omics-technologies with established biochemical, molecular and genetic approaches have created a “perfect storm” for research into plant metabolism in which we can computationally, genetically and biologically dissect pathways between organisms, genomes and across evolutionary time. Historically, the most recent comparable period of advancement was during the 1960’s and 70’s, when the application of powerful new tools, radiolabels, allowed the pathways for much of plant metabolism as we now know it to be proposed. It is my firm belief we are in the midst of what will be considered in retrospect an analogous period of incredible advancement in our fundamental understanding of plant metabolism at the individual gene, system and genome levels. I have purposely positioned my laboratory and research programs to be at the front of this basic science wave and to apply the knowledge obtained to address serious, longstanding problems on the planet. MORE

Recent Publications

Bai L, Kim EH, DellaPenna D, Brutnell TP. (2009) Novel lycopene epsilon cyclase activities in maize revealed through perturbation of carotenoid biosynthesis. Plant J. 59(4):588-99.

Zhang R, Cruz JA, Kramer DM, Magallanes-Lundback ME, Dellapenna D, Sharkey TD. (2009)Moderate heat stress reduces the pH component of the transthylakoid proton motive force in light-adapted, intact tobacco leaves. Plant Cell Environ. 32(11):1538-47.

J Ohlrogge, D Allen, B Berguson, D DellaPenna, Shachar-Y Hill, S Stymne. (2009) Energy:Driving on Biomass. Science 324:1019-1020.

J Kim, JJ Smith, L Tian, D DellaPenna (2009) The Evolution and Function of Carotenoid Hydroxylases in Arabidopsis. Plant and Cell Physiology. 50:463-479.

Kobayashi N, Dellapenna D. (2008) Tocopherol metabolism, oxidation and recycling under high light stress in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 55(4):607-18.

DellaPenna D, Last RL. (2008) Genome-enabled approaches shed new light on plant metabolism. Science. Apr 25;320(5875):479-81.

Lu Y, Savage LJ, Ajjawi I, Imre KM, Yoder DW, Benning C, Dellapenna D, Ohlrogge JB, Osteryoung KW, Weber AP, Wilkerson CG, Last RL. (2008) New connections across pathways and cellular processes: industrialized mutant screening reveals novel associations between diverse phenotypes in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. Apr;146(4):1482-500. Epub 2008 Feb 8.

Maeda H, Sage TL, Isaac G, Welti R, Dellapenna D. (2008) Tocopherols modulate extraplastidic polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism in Arabidopsis at low temperature. Plant Cell. Feb;20(2):452-70. Epub 2008 Feb 26.

Ma Y, Baker RF, Magallanes-Lundback M, Dellapenna D, Braun DM. (2008) Tie-dyed1 and Sucrose export defective1 act independently to promote carbohydrate export from maize leaves. Planta. Feb;227(3):527-38. Epub 2007 Oct 9.

Tian L, DellaPenna D, Dixon RA. (2007) The pds2 mutation is a lesion in the Arabidopsis homogentisate solanesyltransferase gene involved in plastoquinone biosynthesis. Planta. Sep;226(4):1067-73. Epub 2007 Jun 14.

Welsch R, Maass D, Voegel T, Dellapenna D, Beyer P. (2007) The Transcription Factor RAP2.2 and its Interacting Partner SINAT2: Stable Elements in the Carotenogenesis of Arabidopsis Leaves. Plant Physiol. Nov;145(3):1073-85.

Maeda H, Dellapenna D. (2007) Tocopherol functions in photosynthetic organisms. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 10(3):260-5.

DellaPenna D. (2007) Biofortification of plant-based food: enhancing folate levels by metabolicengineering. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 6;104(10):3675-6. No abstract available.