
Daniel B Szymanski
Professor of Agronomy
Department: Agronomy
Phone: 765.494.8092
Fax: 765.496.2926
Office: WSLR 226
E-mail: szymandb@purdue.edu
Area of Expertise: Genetics and Cell Biology of Plant Growth
Curriculum Vitae
My lab provides new knowledge about how plant cells integrate central carbon metabolism with cell signaling and growth control. Research questions are centered on Rac small GTPase-mediated signal transduction. Measurements in the lab span spatial scales, from the dynamic assembly of protein complexes that control vesicle trafficking and the cytoskeleton to the macroscopic assembly of micrometer-sized cortical patches that modulate the cell wall and define the patterns of cell growth. The research grew out of, and uses the model plant Arabidopsis (http://www.arabidopsis.org/) as a workhorse for both molecular genetics and cell biology. However, recent projects also involve both legume and monocot species (maize), and seek to understand how conserved regulatory pathways operate as plants grow and establish beneficial symbiotic relationships during root nodule formation.
Recent Publications
Belteton, S., Sawchuk, M.G., Donohoe, B.S., Scarpella, E., and Szymanski, D.B. (2018). Reassessing the roles of PIN proteins and anticlinal microtubules during pavement cell morphogenesis. Plant Physiol 176, 432-449
Yanagisawa, M., Alonso, J.M., and Szymanski, D.B. (2018). Microtubule-dependent confinement of a cell signaling and actin polymerization control module regulates polarized cell growth. Current Biol 28, 2459-2466.
Li, J., Kim, T., and Szymanski, D.B. (2018). Multi-scale regulation of cell branching: modeling morphogenesis. Dev Biol.(in press)
Szymanski, D.B., and Staiger, C.J. (2018). The actin cytoskeleton: functional arrays for cytoplasmic organization and cell shape control. Plant Physiol 176, 106-118.
Aryal, U.K., McBride, Z., Chen, D., Xie, J., and Szymanski, D.B. (2017). Analysis of protein complexes in Arabidopsis leaves using size exclusion chromatography and label-free protein correlation profiling. J Proteomics 166, 8-18.
Aryal, U.K., Xiong, Y., McBride, Z., Kihara, D., Xie, J., Hall, M.C., and Szymanski, D.B. (2014). A proteomic strategy for global analysis of plant protein complexes. Plant Cell 26, 3867-3882.
McBride, Z., Chen, D., Xie, J., and Szymanski, D.B. (2017). Global analysis of membrane-associated protein oligomerization using protein correlation profiling. Mol Cell Proteomics 16, 1972-1989.
Wu, T.-C., Belteton, S.A., Pack, J., Szymanski, D.B., and Umulis, D.M. (2016). LobeFinder: a convex-hull based method for quantitative boundary analysis of lobed plant cells. Plant Physiol 171, 2331-2342.
Yanagisawa, M., Desyatova, A.S., Belteton, S., Mallery, E.M., Turner, J.A., and Szymanski, D.B. (2015). Patterning mechanisms of cytoskeletal and cell wall systems during leaf trichome morphogenesis. Nature Plant 1, 15014.
Invited Reviews
Szymanski, D.B. 2009. Plant cells taking shape: new insights into cytoplasmic control. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 12, 735-744.
Szymanski, D.B., and Cosgrove, D.J. 2009. Dynamic coordination of cytoskeletal and cell wall systems during plant cell morphogenesis. Curr. Biol. 19, R800-R811.
Szymanski, D.B. Tubulin folding cofactors: Half a dozen for a dimer. 2002 Curr. Biol. 12: R767-R769.
Professional Faculty Research
Molecular genetics, live cell imaging, biochemistry, computational modeling of plant cell morphogenesis
Other Activities
Society Membership:
Member American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member American Society of Cell Biology
Member American Society of Plant Biology
Editorial Boards:
Frontiers in Plant Cell Biology
Plant Physiology