The Plant Institute connects researchers from diverse fields to study all aspects of plants: from their evolutionary histories, genetics, and physical structures to the other organisms that interact with them, on scales ranging from the molecular to global. Our approach consciously encourages cross-disciplinary efforts to conduct innovative, groundbreaking research and prepares future scientists to investigate the most important questions facing a changing planet.
Plant Institute
Promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in all aspects of plant-based scientific investigation
News
Eberly’s 2022 Lab Bench to Commercialization grant recipients announced
The Eberly College of Science has chosen faculty members Joyce Jose and Sally Mackenzie to receive its 2022 Lab Bench to Commercialization grants. This competitive program provides funding for researchers in the college, enabling them to enhance the commercial potential of ongoing Penn State research and prepare them to translate their Penn State-owned intellectual property to the marketplace.
Researchers help track the growth of ginseng forest farming in Pennsylvania
There is good and bad news about ginseng collection and production in Pennsylvania, and likely much of Appalachia, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.
Study of structural variants in cacao genomes yields clues about plant diversity
An exhaustive and painstaking comparison of the genomes of multiple strains of the cacao tree by a team of researchers has provided insights into the role genomic structural variants play in the regulation of gene expression and chromosome evolution, giving rise to the differences within populations of the plant.
News
Eberly’s 2022 Lab Bench to Commercialization grant recipients announced
The Eberly College of Science has chosen faculty members Joyce Jose and Sally Mackenzie to receive its 2022 Lab Bench to Commercialization grants. This competitive program provides funding for researchers in the college, enabling them to enhance the commercial potential of ongoing Penn State research and prepare them to translate their Penn State-owned intellectual property to the marketplace.
Researchers help track the growth of ginseng forest farming in Pennsylvania
There is good and bad news about ginseng collection and production in Pennsylvania, and likely much of Appalachia, according to a new study conducted by Penn State researchers.
Study of structural variants in cacao genomes yields clues about plant diversity
An exhaustive and painstaking comparison of the genomes of multiple strains of the cacao tree by a team of researchers has provided insights into the role genomic structural variants play in the regulation of gene expression and chromosome evolution, giving rise to the differences within populations of the plant.
Researchers identify a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by Penn State.