Daniel DeGennaro: Plant Physiology First Author

Daniel DeGennaro, first author of “Initiation of aboveground organ primordia depends on combined action of auxin, ERECTA family genes, and PINOID”

Current Position: Senior Account Manager for Bio-Rad Laboratories

Education: Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

B.S. in Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Non-scientific Interests: Cooking, entertaining, hiking, and fantasy football

Brief bio: I grew up around the lush Appalachian Mountains, where hikes as a child cultivated my interest in nature.  My doctoral work began when I joined Dr. Elena Shpak, who had previously characterized the developmentally crucial ERECTA family genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. My work first contributed to understanding the role of ERECTA in stem cell maintenance. Later, my primary research focused on the plant hormone auxin and the genetic regulation of organ formation. I discovered that initiation of aboveground organ primordia could not occur effectively without the combined action of auxin, ERECTA family genes, and PINOID. These breakthroughs, like so many others, would not have been possible without access to state of the art biotechnology. I now work to make these technologies accessible to academic and biopharmaceutical laboratories across the southeastern United States.