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Ph.D.: Illinois (1979)
Year Appointed: 1982
Rank: Adjunct Professor (Plant Physiologist)
Primary Responsibilities:   Research; Developing Alfalfa as a Biofuel Feedstock

Research Interests:  My research involves molecular and biochemical approaches for developing alfalfa as a biofuel feedstock.  Alfalfa offers considerable potential for development as a cellulosic bioethanol feedstock.  The development of alfalfa varieties for this purpose would allow for the introduction of alfalfa as a biofuel crop into a corn/soybean rotation with the attendant advantages of breaking pest cycles and adding biologically-fixed nitrogen to the soil. To make this approach commercially viable, the bioethanol conversion potential of alfalfa must be increased.  One approach for increasing the fermentation potential of alfalfa is to modify the carbohydrate composition of cell walls.  My research is focused on characterizing the regulation of matrix polysaccharide biosynthesis in alfalfa cell walls.  Research objectives: (1) characterize the importance of the myo-inositol oxidation (MIO) and nucleotide sugar oxidation (NSO) pathways in cell wall matrix polysaccharide biosynthesis in alfalfa, and (2) evaluate the MIO and NSO pathways and cell wall properties of transgenic alfalfa modified with genes that alter cell wall matrix polysaccharide biosynthesis.