Brad Binder, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, achieved what all new faculty members hope for—funding on his very first grant application. The National Science Foundation recently informed Binder of the good news. Binder, who joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, last year, works on ethylene signaling in plants. Ethylene is a plant hormone that influences such developmental and physiological processes in plants as growth, senescence, abscission, fruit ripening, and responses to stresses. Signaling is the transfer of information within and among cells. Agronomists are especially interested in regulating ethylene biology because of the important impact this hormone has on crop plants. Binder’s research combines imaging techniques with biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics to unravel the complexities of the ethylene pathway within plants.
Selected Publications
Gao Z, Wen C-K, Binder BM, Chang J, Chiang Y-H, Kerris III RJ, Chang C, Schaller GE (2008). “Heteromeric Interactions among Ethylene Receptors of Arabidopsis.” Journal of Biological Chemistry 283: 23801-23810. [Abstract]
Pirrung MC, Bleecker AB, Inoue Y, Rodriguez FI, Sugawara N, Wada T, Zou Y, Binder BM (2008). “Ethylene Receptor Antagonists: Strained Alkenes Are Necessary but not Sufficient.” Chemistry and Biology 15: 313-321. [Abstract]
Binder BM, Rodriguez FI, Bleecker AB, Patterson SE (2007). “The Effects of Group 11 Transition Metals, Including Gold, on Ethylene Binding to the ETR1 Receptor and Growth of Arabidopsis thaliana.” FEBS Letters 581: 5105-5109. [Abstract]
Binder BM, Walker JM, Gagne JM, Emborg TJ, Hemmann G, Bleecker AB, Vierstra RD (2007). “The Arabidopsis EIN3-Binding F-Box Proteins, EBF1 and 2 Have Distinct but Overlapping Roles in Regulating Ethylene Signaling.” The Plant Cell 19: 509-523. [Abstract]
Wang W, Esch JE, Shiu S-H, Agula H., Binder BM, Chang C, Patterson SE, Bleecker AB (2006). “Identification of Important Regions for Ethylene Binding and Signaling in the Transmembrane Domain of the ETR1 Ethylene Receptor of Arabidopsis.” The Plant Cell 18: 3429-03442. [Article]
Binder BM, O’Malley RC, Wang W, Zutz TC, Bleecker AB (2006). “Ethylene Stimulates Nutations that are Dependent on the ETR1 Receptor.” Plant Physiology 142: 1690-1700. [Article]
Visit the Quest Gallery at Trace, UT’s digital archive, to access publications of other Quest Scholars of the Week.