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David Jackson

David Jackson

Professor

Ph.D., University of East Anglia, 1991

jacksond@cshl.edu | 516-367-8467

Jackson Lab Website   Faculty Profile

My lab studies genes and signals in cells that regulate the growth and shape of plants. We have discovered several genes that control plant architecture by exerting an influence on stem cells. By identifying the genes that control the number of stem cells in corn plants, for example, we’ve discovered a means of boosting the yield of that vital staple.

David Jackson and colleagues study genes and signals that regulate plant growth and architecture. They are investigating a unique way in which plant cells communicate, by transporting regulatory proteins via small channels called plasmodesmata. These channels, which direct the flow of nutrients and signals through growing tissues, are regulated during development. The team discovered a gene encoding a chaperonin, CCT8, that controls the transport of a transcription factor SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) between cells in the plant stem cell niche, or meristem. STM is critical for stem cell maintenance, and studies of the CCT8 gene indicate that movement of STM between cells is required for this function. The lab also continues to identify other genes that control plant architecture through effects on stem cell maintenance and identity, and their work has implications for crop yields. Recent examples include discovery of a subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein that is conserved throughout animals and plants, and their studies indicate that this gene controls stem cell proliferation. They have found that in plants, the G protein interacts with a completely different class of receptors than in animals. Their discovery helps to explain how signaling from diverse receptors is achieved in plants. This year, they also demonstrated that weak mutations in one of the receptor proteins can enhance seed production in maize, which could lead to yield increases. Separately, the lab has characterized system-wide networks of gene expression, using “next-gen” profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation methods that have revealed many new hypotheses in developmental networks controlling inflorescence development. They are also developing a collection of maize lines that can drive expression of any reporter or experimental gene in any tissue type—tools of great interest to maize researchers that are being made available to the broader scientific community, enabling experiments never before possible in crop plants.

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All Publications

The maize PLASTID TERMINAL OXIDASE (PTOX) locus controls the carotenoid content of kernels

10 Jan 2024 | The Plant Journal
Nie, Yongxin, Wang, Hui, Zhang, Guan, Ding, Haiping, Han, Beibei, Liu, Lei, Shi, Jian, Du, Jiyuan, Li, Xiaohu, Li, Xinzheng, Zhao, Yajie, Zhang, Xiaocong, Liu, Changlin, Weng, Jianfeng, Li, Xinhai, Zhang, Xiansheng, Zhao, Xiangyu, Pan, Guangtang, Jackson, David, Li, Qin-Bao, Stinard, Philip, Arp, Jennifer, Sachs, Martin, Moose, Steven, Hunter, Charles, Wu, Qingyu, Zhang, Zhiming

Cultivating Potential: Harnessing Plant Stem Cells for Agricultural Crop Improvement

Dec 2023 | Molecular Plant
Lindsay, Penelope, Swentowsky, Kyle, Jackson, David

Tackling redundancy: genetic mechanisms underlying paralog compensation in plants

19 Sep 2023 | New Phytologist
Iohannes, Sessen, Jackson, David

Monitoring environmental microbiomes: Alignment of microbiology and computational biology competencies within a culturally integrated curriculum and research framework

13 Sep 2023 | Molecular Ecology Resources
Lee, J, Lowell, J, Whitewater, K, Roane, T, Miller, C, Chan, A, Sylvester, A, Jackson, D, Hunter, L

Traveling with purpose: cell-to-cell transport of plant mRNAs

26 Jun 2023 | Trends in Cell Biology | :S0962-8924(23)00106
Kitagawa, Munenori, Tran, Thu, Jackson, David

A spatial transcriptome map of developing maize ear

24 Jun 2023
Yang, Ning, Wang, Yuebin, Luo, Yun, Guo, Xing, Li, Yunfu, Yan, Jiali, Shao, Wenwen, Wei, Wenjie, Jackson, David, Zhang, Zuxin, Yan, Jianbing, Liu, Huan, Liu, Lei

A pan-grass transcriptome reveals patterns of cellular divergence in crops

May 2023 | Nature | 617(7962):785-791
Guillotin, Bruno, Rahni, Ramin, Passalacqua, Michael, Mohammed, Mohammed, Xu, Xiaosa, Raju, Sunil, Ramírez, Carlos, Jackson, David, Groen, Simon, Gillis, Jesse, Birnbaum, Kenneth

Single-cell analysis opens a goldmine for plant functional studies

6 Dec 2022 | Current Opinion in Biotechnology | 79:102858
Xu, Xiaosa, Jackson, David

Crop domestication: past, present and future

20 Oct 2022 | Plant and Cell Physiology
Jackson, David, Buell, C

A NAC-EXPANSIN module enhances maize kernel size by controlling nucellus elimination

29 Sep 2022 | Nature Communications | 13(1):5708
Sun, Qin, Li, Yunfu, Gong, Dianming, Hu, Aoqing, Zhong, Wanshun, Zhao, Hailiang, Ning, Qiang, Tan, Zengdong, Liang, Kun, Mu, Luyao, Jackson, David, Zhang, Zuxin, Yang, Fang, Qiu, Fazhan

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