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Zachary Lippman

Zachary Lippman

Professor & HHMI Investigator
Jacob Goldfield Professor of Genetics
Director of Graduate Studies

Ph.D., Watson School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2004

lippman@cshl.edu | 516-367-8897

Lippman Lab Website  

My research team studies the genes that determine when and where, and thus how many, flowers are produced on plants. Flowers form on branches called inflorescences, which originate from stem cells. By studying the genes that control how stem cells become inflorescences, we are able to manipulate flower production to improve crop yields.

Zachary Lippman’s research focuses on the process of flowering and flower production in plants, which are major contributors to reproductive success and crop yield. Specifically, Lippman’s research program integrates development, genetics, genomics, and gene editing to explore the mechanisms that determine how plant stem cells become shoots and flowers. The lab takes advantage of extensive natural and mutant variation in inflorescence production and architecture in tomato and related nightshade species (e.g. potato, pepper, groundcherry) to explore how differences in these processes explain the remarkable diversity in the architectures of flower-bearing shoots (inflorescences) observed in nature and agriculture. Recent discoveries on the genes and networks underlying this diversity have led to broader questions on the significance of genomic structural variation, gene redundancy, and epistasis in development, domestication, and breeding. Based on our fundamental discoveries, Lippman is developing and applying innovative concepts and tools for crop improvement.

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Selected Publications

Rapid customization of Solanaceae fruit crops for urban agriculture

23 Dec 2019 | Nature Biotechnology | 38:182-188
Kwon, C, Heo, J, Lemmon, Z, Capua, Y, Hutton, S, Van Eck, J, Park, S, Lippman, Z

Revolutions in agriculture chart a course for targeted breeding of old and new crops

5 Sep 2019 | Science | 366(6466)
Eshed, Y, Lippman, Z

Duplication of a domestication locus neutralized a cryptic variant that caused a breeding barrier in tomato

6 May 2019 | Nature Plants | 5(5):471-497
Soyk, S, Lemmon, Z, Sedlazeck, F, Jimenez-Gomez, J, Alonge, M, Hutton, S, Van Eck, J, Schatz, M, Lippman, Z

All Publications

Automated assembly scaffolding using RagTag elevates a new tomato system for high-throughput genome editing

15 Dec 2022 | Genome Biology | 23(1):258
Alonge, Michael, Lebeigle, Ludivine, Kirsche, Melanie, Jenike, Katie, Ou, Shujun, Aganezov, Sergey, Wang, Xingang, Lippman, Zachary, Schatz, Michael, Soyk, Sebastian

Establishing Physalis as a Solanaceae model system enables genetic reevaluation of the inflated calyx syndrome

21 Oct 2022 | The Plant Cell
He, Jia, Alonge, Michael, Ramakrishnan, Srividya, Benoit, Matthias, Soyk, Sebastian, Reem, Nathan, Hendelman, Anat, Van Eck, Joyce, Schatz, Michael, Lippman, Zachary

Newly Discovered Alleles of the Tomato Antiflorigen Gene SELF PRUNING Provide a Range of Plant Compactness and Yield

28 Jun 2022 | International Journal of Molecular Sciences | 23(13):7149
Kang, Min-Sung, Kim, Yong, Heo, Jung, Rajendran, Sujeevan, Wang, Xingang, Bae, Jong, Lippman, Zachary, Park, Soon

Identification of Genetic Factors Controlling the Formation of Multiple Flowers Per Node in Pepper (Capsicum spp.)

9 May 2022 | Frontiers in Plant Science | 13:884338
Kim, Youngin, Kim, Geon, Han, Koeun, Lee, Hea-Young, Jo, Jinkwan, Kwon, Jin-Kyung, Lemmon, Zachary, Lippman, Zachary, Kang, Byoung-Cheorl

Newly discovered alleles of the tomato antiflorigen gene SELF PRUNING provide a range of plant compactness and yield

17 Apr 2022 | International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Kang, Min-Sung, Kim, Yong, Heo, Jung, Rajendran, Sujeevan, Wang, Xingang, Bae, Jong, Lippman, Zachary, Park, Soon

Dynamic evolution of small signalling peptide compensation in plant stem cell control

28 Mar 2022 | Nature Plants
Kwon, Choon-Tak, Tang, Lingli, Wang, Xingang, Gentile, Iacopo, Hendelman, Anat, Robitaille, Gina, Van Eck, Joyce, Xu, Cao, Lippman, Zachary

Dynamic evolution of small signaling peptide compensation in plant stem cell control

2022 | bioRxiv
Kwon, Choon-Tak, Tang, Lingli, Wang, Xingang, Gentile, Iacopo, Hendelman, Anat, Robitaille, Gina, Van Eck, Joyce, Xu, Cao, Lippman, Zachary