West Virginia University will welcome Carroll Vance, a nationally known geneticist and pioneer in understanding the biochemistry of nitrogen fixation in legumes, to campus Aug. 27-29.
Vance, adjunct professor in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, will be on campus as a guest of the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
He will present a lecture entitled Understanding Legume Biology Through Next Generation Sequencing at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, in 2001 Agricultural Sciences Building.
“Dr. Vance is a renowned international leader in functional genomics of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes and root responses to phosphorus deficiency,” said Vagner Benedito, assistant professor of biochemical genetics in the Davis College’s Division of Plant and Soil Sciences. “He is undoubtedly a well-accomplished scientist and it’s an honor to have him visit WVU and interact with faculty, staff and students.”
Vance has been involved in legume nitrogen gas fixation, nitrogen and carbon metabolism and plant-microbe interaction research for 30 years. During the last 15 years he has also been involved in studies of plant adaptation to phosphorous stress. His early work focused on root nodule development and the role of plant enzymes in nodule nitrogen assimilation.
His laboratory has demonstrated a close link between the induction of phosphorous-deficiency induced genes in roots and their regulation by plant sugars. Most recently Vance has been an international leader in the functional genomics of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and root responses to phosphorous deficiency.
“Dr. Vance has been working on sustainable alternatives for agriculture, which in the mid-term future will lack a key resource for crop production due to the depletion of phosphate sources,” Benedito said. “This visionary work will receive even more importance when phosphate, a nutrient derived from non-renewable sources, becomes the most limiting component of food security.”
Colleagues from early in his professional career, Benedito, a recipient of a grant through the WVU ADVANCE Program, reached out to Vance last year to see if he’d be willing to act as his mentor during the program.
The grant connects global leaders with WVU faculty to foster faculty career development through mentoring relationships. Vance’s visit to WVU is directly related to the grant Benedito received.
Vance’s lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Benedito at 304-293-5434 or Vagner.Benedito@mail.wvu.edu.
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law/8/22/12
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