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Department of Plant Biology

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Plant Biology

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  • Headshots of 5 grad students
    Five SIB students semifinalists in the 2025 Graduate Image of Research Exhibition
    2025-03-31 - We are thrilled to announce that five graduate students from the School of Integrative Biology (SIB) have been named semifinalists in this year’s Image of Research competition! Each year, this exhibition showcases the stunning diversity and creativity of graduate student research.We invite you to explore the online exhibition and cast your votes for your three SIB favorite entries. Your votes...
  • A field of plants
    Traditional breeding falls short in boosting soybean photosynthesis
    2025-03-24 - A team from the University of Illinois has determined that improving a key component of soybean photosynthesis is unlikely to come from traditional breeding methods, and that gene editing is likely the key to unlocking soybean potential.“There’s not a huge amount of room to improve the light-harvesting efficiency of soybean photosynthesis at a cellular level...
  • a headshot of Plant Biology Associate Professor Li-Qing
    Plant Biology's Li-Qing to serve as Principal Investigator in new global partnernship
    2025-03-17 - A new research initiative is investigating how maize and rice use light, water, and nutrients more efficiently, with the goal of developing higher-yield, more resilient crops. The Strategic Interventions for Sustainable Yield Increase in Maize and Rice (SUYIMAR) project, backed by Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One), brings together...
  • Jim Dalling standing next to a tree holding large leaves
    Plant Biology's James Dalling contributes to research on tropical forests and climate change
    2025-03-10 - Plant Biology Professor James Dalling is one of the key authors in a recent groundbreaking study published in Science, shedding light on how tropical forests in the Americas are adapting too slowly to keep pace with climate change. This research suggests that these forests, vital to global biodiversity and climate regulation, may be struggling to respond to rapidly shifting...
  • A woman standing in a field
    Lisa Ainsworth named RIPE Director
    2025-02-18 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  Lisa Ainsworth has been named Director of the internationally acclaimed Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency project, which is led by the University of Illinois."Lisa is pre-eminent in the fields of crop sciences and plant biology, continually leading IGB's research...
  • two men kneeling in a field
    Long/Ort step back from RIPE leadership roles they helped create
    2025-02-03 - After decades of impactful and prolific research, two photosynthesis trailblazers are passing the torch, Stephen Long and Donald Ort are retiring from their leadership roles for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.They have created a legacy...
  • Headshots of James O'Dwyer and Kenneth Jops
    Quantifying life history difference in tropical plant communities can help in predicting changes in population size
    2025-01-27 - A University of Illinois team recently published new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences based on their ongoing work on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), a key research site in the Panama Canal's Gatun Lake. Their new paper discusses the important question of how tropical...
  • plants with an auto chamber
    First-Ever Conceptual Model Explains Variations in Agricultural N2O Emissions
    2025-01-25 - Nitrous oxide (N2O) has long been agriculture’s sustainability Achilles heel. While only making up 6% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, N2O has 300 times the heat-trapping ability ofcarbon dioxide (CO2) and stays in the atmosphere for about 100 years.This greenhouse gas is produced by soil microbes whose activity depends on ...
  • A collage of headshots of the professors in the article
    Center for Advanced Study appoints seven professors to permanent faculty
    2024-12-18 - The Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has appointed seven new members to its permanent faculty. CAS professors are selected based on their outstanding scholarship, and the appointments are one of the highest forms of campus recognition at...
  • A field of two-foot-tall sorghum plants at sunset. The sky has streaks of pink and blue.
    Rubisco's role in global food security
    2024-12-17 - As global food demand continues to grow, researchers are exploring multiple strategies to boost crop productivity. While engineering plant enzymes and biochemical pathways that are more efficient remains a transformative goal, this review highlights another promising approach: increasing Rubisco content. Rubisco is the plant enzyme that captures atmospheric CO2 and converts it into organic...
  •  man and a woman in white lab coats hold containers with young green plants in a lab setting.
    Climate-ready crop: RIPE team shows increase in food mass through photorespiratory bypass in elevated temperatures
    2024-12-04 - A team from the University of Illinois has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming, showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are often the same areas where the changing climate has already affected multiple crop seasons.“We need...
  • A woman standing in a field
    Prominent global change scientist joins crop sciences, plant biology at Illinois
    2024-12-02 - Globally recognized as one of the most influential modern scientists, Elizabeth “Lisa” Ainsworth has been named Professor and C.A. Ewing Chair of Crop Physiology in the Department of Crop Sciences and the ...
  • A group of individuals cutting a giant ribbon
    New Greenhouse Will Accelerate CABBI Bioenergy Research
    2024-11-22 - A new greenhouse custom-designed to support research at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) is now open at the University of Illinois Research Park. The Plant Biology Innovation Greenhouse (PBIG) features unique cutting-edge capabilities that are already benefiting plant and microbial science researchers on the U. of I. campus. It will propel research by CABBI —...
  • Collage of headshots of the six professors that were highly ranked
    Six Illinois scientists rank among world's most influential
    2024-11-19 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Six researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2024 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes researchers and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence, as reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade. The highly cited...
  • A man and a woman working in a field together
    Study: Mesophyll conductance doubles in soybean domestication, providing opportunity to be enhanced through selective breeding
    2024-10-29 -  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a new study conducted by the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked back in time at soybean growth and discovered that modern plants have increased mesophyll conductance. This means that carbon dioxide...

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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences School of Integrative Biology
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286 Morrill Hall

505 S. Goodwin Ave.

Urbana, IL 61801

217-333-3044

Email: sib@life.illinois.edu

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Departments

  • Entomology
    • 320 Morrill Hall
    • 217-333-2910
    • entowork@life.illinois.edu
  • Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior
    • 320 Morrill Hall
    • 217-333-7801
    • eeb@life.illinois.edu
  • Plant Biology
    • 286 Morrill Hall
    • 217-333-3261
    • plants@life.illinois.edu

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