Profile of C. Robin Buell.

Abstract

C. Robin Buell has been a leading figure in plant genomics since the advent of DNA sequencing technology. She helped lead multiple consortia to sequence some of the first crop genomes at the turn of the millennium. She has since used the genomes to tackle questions in fundamental biology, plant evolution, and agriculture. Recently, she applied single-cell technologies to uncover how complex biosynthetic pathways are compartmentalized across different rare plant cell types. Now at the University of Georgia, Buell explores in her Inaugural Article how tubers arose repeatedly in the plant family tree.