My lab studies genes and signals in cells that regulate the growth and shape of plants. We have discovered several genes that control plant architecture by exerting an influence on stem cells. By identifying the genes that control the number of stem cells in corn plants, for example, we’ve discovered a means of boosting the yield of that vital staple.
David Jackson and colleagues study genes and signals that regulate plant growth and architecture. They are investigating a unique way in which plant cells communicate, by transporting regulatory proteins via small channels called plasmodesmata. These channels, which direct the flow of nutrients and signals through growing tissues, are regulated during development. The team discovered a gene encoding a chaperonin, CCT8, that controls the transport of a transcription factor SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) between cells in the plant stem cell niche, or meristem. STM is critical for stem cell maintenance, and studies of the CCT8 gene indicate that movement of STM between cells is required for this function. The lab also continues to identify other genes that control plant architecture through effects on stem cell maintenance and identity, and their work has implications for crop yields. Recent examples include discovery of a subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein that is conserved throughout animals and plants, and their studies indicate that this gene controls stem cell proliferation. They have found that in plants, the G protein interacts with a completely different class of receptors than in animals. Their discovery helps to explain how signaling from diverse receptors is achieved in plants. This year, they also demonstrated that weak mutations in one of the receptor proteins can enhance seed production in maize, which could lead to yield increases. Separately, the lab has characterized system-wide networks of gene expression, using “next-gen” profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation methods that have revealed many new hypotheses in developmental networks controlling inflorescence development. They are also developing a collection of maize lines that can drive expression of any reporter or experimental gene in any tissue type—tools of great interest to maize researchers that are being made available to the broader scientific community, enabling experiments never before possible in crop plants.
Digging up the deep-rooted secrets of perennial corn
March 10, 2023
Perennials may hold the key to sustainable farming. CSHL scientists are decoding the genes that let these plants withstand the test of time.
How tweaking genes keeps corn and rice on your plate
May 18, 2022
CSHL scientists leveraged lessons from the corn genome to improve another global staple crop, rice.
Do you have the dirt on plant research?
March 31, 2022
New research is constantly sprouting. Take this quiz and test your plant knowledge.
Psst! Plants pass notes from cell to cell
January 14, 2022
Plants relay messages critical for development between their cells using RNA. See tiny RNA messages zoom around inside plant cells.
Plants: RNA notes to self
January 13, 2022
CSHL scientists discovered a way plants send messages between cells using RNA and a protein escort.
Lab life: A step for students, a leap for science
December 20, 2021
The CSHL Partners for the Future program allows high school students to participate in laboratory life.
In the Field: A Barbara McClintock–inspired novel
December 2, 2021
1983 Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock continues to inspire many today. In 2021, author Rachel Pastan published a novel based on her life and legacy.
Corn 2.0
November 29, 2021
Climate change and population growth are threatening our crops. CSHL Professor David Jackson is helping corn keep up with the demand.
Using “guilt by association” to classify cells
July 14, 2021
Using a new computational statistics tool, CSHL researchers classify cells to understand how an organism functions.
Tweaking corn kernels with CRISPR
February 22, 2021
CRISPR genome editing can fast-forward the process of plant evolution. Researchers at CSHL are using the technique to increase kernel yield.
All Publications
A pan-grass transcriptome reveals patterns of cellular divergence in crops.
May 2023 | Nature | 617(7962):785-791
Guillotin, Bruno, Rahni, Ramin, Passalacqua, Michael, Mohammed, Mohammed, Xu, Xiaosa, Raju, Sunil, Ramírez, Carlos, Jackson, David, Groen, Simon, Gillis, Jesse, Birnbaum, Kenneth
Single-cell analysis opens a goldmine for plant functional studies
6 Dec 2022 | Current Opinion in Biotechnology | 79:102858
Xu, Xiaosa, Jackson, David
Crop domestication: past, present and future
20 Oct 2022 | Plant and Cell Physiology
Jackson, David, Buell, C
A NAC-EXPANSIN module enhances maize kernel size by controlling nucellus elimination
29 Sep 2022 | Nature Communications | 13(1):5708
Sun, Qin, Li, Yunfu, Gong, Dianming, Hu, Aoqing, Zhong, Wanshun, Zhao, Hailiang, Ning, Qiang, Tan, Zengdong, Liang, Kun, Mu, Luyao, Jackson, David, Zhang, Zuxin, Yang, Fang, Qiu, Fazhan
An adaptive teosinte mexicana introgression modulates phosphatidylcholine levels and is associated with maize flowering time
5 Jul 2022 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA | 119(27):e2100036119
Barnes, Allison, Rodríguez-Zapata, Fausto, Juárez-Núñez, Karla, Gates, Daniel, Janzen, Garrett, Kur, Andi, Wang, Li, Jensen, Sarah, Estévez-Palmas, Juan, Crow, Taylor, Kavi, Heli, Pil, Hannah, Stokes, Ruthie, Knizner, Kevan, Aguilar-Rangel, Maria, Demesa-Arévalo, Edgar, Skopelitis, Tara, Pérez-Limón, Sergio, Stutts, Whitney, Thompson, Peter, Chiu, Yu-Chun, Jackson, David, Muddiman, David, Fiehn, Oliver, Runcie, Daniel, Buckler, Edward, Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey, Hufford, Matthew, Sawers, Ruairidh, Rellán-Álvarez, Rubén
Redox-engineering enhances maize thermotolerance and grain yield in the field
2 Jun 2022 | Plant Biotechnology Journal
Sprague, Stuart, Tamang, Tej, Steiner, Trevor, Wu, Qingyu, Hu, Ying, Kakeshpour, Tayebeh, Park, Jungeun, Yang, Jian, Peng, Zhao, Bergkamp, Blake, Somayanda, Impa, Peterson, Morgan, Oliveira Garcia, Ely, Hao, Yangfan, St Amand, Paul, Bai, Guihua, Nakata, Paul, Rieu, Ivo, Jackson, David, Cheng, Ninghui, Valent, Barbara, Hirschi, Kendal, Jagadish, Sv, Liu, Sanzhen, White, Frank, Park, Sunghun
A reactive oxygen species burst causes haploid induction in maize
5 Apr 2022 | Molecular Plant
Jiang, Chenglin, Sun, Ju, Li, Rui, Yan, Shijuan, Chen, Wei, Guo, Liang, Qin, Guochen, Wang, Pengcheng, Luo, Cheng, Huang, Wenjie, Zhang, Qinghua, Fernie, Alisdair, Jackson, David, Li, Xiang, Yan, Jianbing
A Forward Genetic Approach to Identify Plasmodesmal Trafficking Regulators Based on Trichome Rescue
30 Mar 2022 | Methods in Molecular Biology | 2457:393-407
Kitagawa, Munenori, Jackson, David
Convergent selection of a WD40 protein that enhances grain yield in maize and rice
25 Mar 2022 | Science | 375(6587):eabg7985
Chen, Wenkang, Chen, Lu, Zhang, Xuan, Yang, Ning, Guo, Jianghua, Wang, Min, Ji, Shenghui, Zhao, Xiangyu, Yin, Pengfei, Cai, Lichun, Xu, Jing, Zhang, Lili, Han, Yingjia, Xiao, Yingni, Xu, Gen, Wang, Yuebin, Wang, Shuhui, Wu, Sheng, Yang, Fang, Jackson, David, Cheng, Jinkui, Chen, Saihua, Sun, Chuanqing, Qin, Feng, Tian, Feng, Fernie, Alisdair, Li, Jiansheng, Yan, Jianbing, Yang, Xiaohong
An RNA exosome subunit mediates cell-to-cell trafficking of a homeobox mRNA via plasmodesmata
14 Jan 2022 | Science | 375(6577):177-182
Kitagawa, Munenori, Wu, Peipei, Balkunde, Rachappa, Cunniff, Patrick, Jackson, David