Richard A. Dixon, M.A., D.Phil, D.Sc. | Department of Biological Sciences
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Richard A. Dixon, M.A., D.Phil, D.Sc.

Distinguished Research Professor
Office: 
Room #B314
1155 Union Circle #305220, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Office #B314, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-5017
940-565-2308
Richard.Dixon@unt.edu
Education: 
Doctor of Philosophy Botany: Phytoalexin production by plant tissue cultures, Univesity of Oxford, UK - 1976
MA Biocemistry, University of Oxford, UK - 1976
Publications: 

Publications in Review

Tobimatsu, Y., Chen, F., Jin Nakashima, J., Jackson, L.A., Dixon, R.A. and Ralph, J. (2013). Coexistence but independent biosynthesis of catechyl and guaiacyl/syringyl lignins in plant seeds. Plant Cell, in revision.

Zhao, Q., Tobamitsu, Y., Zhou, R., Pattathil, S., Gallego-Giraldo, L., Fu, C., Shadle, G.L., Jackson, L.A., Hahn, M.G., Kim, H., Ralph, J., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2013). Loss of function of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase 1 leads to unconventional lignin and temperature-sensitive growth reduction in Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, in review.

Dixon, R.A., Reddy, M.S.S. and Gallego-Giraldo, L. (2013) Monolignol biosynthesis and its genetic manipulation: the good, the bad and the ugly. Recent Advances in Polyphenol Research, in review.

Shen, H., Hisano, H., Hardin, F., Mazarei, M., Fu, C., Escamilla-Treviño, L.L., Xiao, X., Rudis, M.R., Tang, Y., Jackson, L.A., Li, G., Hernandez, T., Nandakumar, R., Mohnen, D., Chen, F., Stewart Jr C.N., Wang, Z.-Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2013). A genomic approach to deciphering the monolignol pathway in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). Plant Cell, in review.

Zhao, Q., Jackson, L.A., Chen, F., Shao, H., He, X., Yun, J., Yin, Y., Wang, X. and Dixon, R.A. (2013). LACCASE 11, 2 and 12 are involved in monlignol polymerization in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Journal, in review.

Publications for the Past 10 Years

For a complete listing and more information go to www.faculty.unt.edu

  1. Marita, J.M., Ralph, J.R., Hatfield, R.D., Guo, D., Chen, F., and Dixon, R.A. (2003). Structural and compositional modifications in lignin of transgenic alfalfa down-regulated in caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase and caffeoyl CoA 3-O-methyltransferase. Phytochemistry 62, 53-65.

  2. Xie, D.-Y., Sharma, S.B., Paiva, N.L., Ferreira, D. and Dixon, R.A. (2003). Role of anthocyanidin reductase, encoded by BANYULS, in plant flavonoid biosynthesis. Science 299: 396-399. (accompanied by a Perspectives article)

  3. Shadle, G.L., Wesley, S.V., Korth, K.L., Chen, F., Lamb, C. and Dixon, R.A. (2003). Phenylpropanoid compounds and disease resistance in transgenic tobacco with altered expression of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. Phytochemistry 64: 153-161.

  4. Tripathy, S., Kleppinger-Sparace, K., Dixon, R.A. and Chapman, K.D. (2003) N-Acylethanolamine signaling in tobacco is mediated by a membrane-associated, high affinity binding protein. Plant Physiology 131: 1781-1791.

  5. Chen, F., Duran, A.L., Blount, J.W., Sumner. L.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2003). Profiling phenolic metabolites in transgenic alfalfa modified in lignin biosynthesis. Phytochemistry 64: 1013-1021.

  6. Shrestha, R., Dixon, R.A. and Chapman, K. (2003). Molecular identification of a functional homologue of the mammalian fatty acid amide hydrolase in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278: 34990-34997.

  7. Liu, C-J., Huhman, D., Sumner, L.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2003) Regiospecific hydroxylation of isoflavones by cytochrome P450 81E enzymes from Medicago truncatula. Plant Journal 36: 471-484.

  8. Chen, L., Auh, C.-K., Dowling, P., Bell, J., Chen, F., Hopkins, A., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z.-Y. (2003) Improved forgage digestibility of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) by transgenic down-regulation of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase. Plant Biotechnology Journal 1: 437-449.

  9. Joel, D.M., French, J.C., Graft, N., Kourteva, G., Dixon, R.A. and Havkin-Frenkel, D. (2003) A hairy tissue produces vanillin. Israel Journal of Plant Science 51: 157-159.

  10. Sumner, L.W., Mendes, P. and Dixon, R.A. (2003) Plant metabolomics: large-scale phytochemistry in the functional genomics era. Phytochemistry 62: 817-836.

  11. Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2003) Legume natural products. Understanding and manipulating complex pathways for human and animal health. Plant Physiology 131: 878-885.

  12. Dixon, R.A. and Strack, D. (2003) Phytochemistry meets genome analysis, and beyond…….. (editorial). Phytochemistry 62: 815-816.

  13. Noel, J.P., Dixon, R.A., Pichersky, E., Zubieta, C. and Ferrer, J.-L. (2003). Structural, functional, and evolutionary basis for methylation of plant small molecules. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry 37: 37-58.

  14. Dixon, R.A. and Reddy, M.S.S. (2003). Biosynthesis of monolignols. Genomic and reverse genetic approaches. Phytochemical Reviews 2: 289-306.

  15. Liu C.-J. and Dixon R.A. (2003) Directing metabolic flux toward engineered isoflavone nutraceuticals in transgenic Arabidopsis. In: Plant Biotechnology 2002 and Beyond, (Ed, Vasil I.K.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp 485-490.

  16. Xia, Y., Suzuki, H., Borewitz, J., Blount, J., Guo, Z., Patel, K., Dixon, R.A. and Lamb, C. (2004). An extracellular aspartic protease mediates disease resistance in Arabidopsis. EMBO Journal 23: 980-988.

  17. Suzuki, H., Xia, Y., Cameron, R., Shadle. G., Blount, J., Lamb, C. and Dixon, R.A. (2004). Signals for local and systemic responses of plants to pathogen attack. Journal of Experimental Botany, 55: 169-179.

  18. Kota, P., Guo, D., Zubieta, C., Noel, J. and Dixon, R.A. (2004). O-Methylation of benzaldehyde derivatives by "lignin specific" caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase. Phytochemistry, 65: 837-846.

  19. Xie, D.-Y., Sharma, S.B. and Dixon, R.A. (2004). Anthocyanidin reductases from Medicago truncatula and Arabidopsis thaliana. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 422: 91-102. (cover article)

  20. Watson, B.S, Lei, Z., Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2004). Proteomics of Medicago sativa cell walls. Phytochemistry 65: 1709-1720.

  21. Achnine, L., Blancaflor, E., Rasmussen, S. and Dixon, R.A. (2004). Co-localization of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase for metabolic channeling in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Plant Cell 16: 3098-3109.

  22. Dixon, R.A. (2004). Molecular improvement of forages- from genomics to GMOs. In Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf, eds A. Hopkins, Z-Y Wang, R. Mian, M. Sledge and R.E. Barker, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1-19.

  23. May, G.D. and Dixon, R.A. (2004). Quick Guide- Medicago truncatula. Current Biology 14: R180-181.

  24. Dixon, R.A. (2004) Phytoestrogens. Annual Review of Plant Biology 55: 225-261.

  25. Elmer, A.M., Broeckling, C.D., Chen, F., Dixon, R.A., Donnelly, B.E., Duran, A.L., Huhman, D.V., Lei, Z., Watson, B.S. and Sumner, L.W. (2004). Potential of integrated functional genomics in biosafety assessment. In Genomics for Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology, ed J.-P. Nap, A. Atanassov and W.J. Stiekema, NATO Science Series, IOS Press, pp 3-17.

  26. Hensley, K., Mou, S., Pye, Q., Dixon, R.A., Sumner, L.W. and Floyd, R.A. (2004). Chemical versus pharmacological actions of nutraceutical phytochemicals: antioxidant and anti inflammatory modalities. Journal of Nutraceutical Research 2: 13-26.

  27. Aziz, N., Paiva, N.L., May, G.D. and Dixon, R.A. (2005). Profiling the transcriptome of alfalfa glandular trichomes. Planta 221: 28-38.

  28. Broeckling, C.D., Huhman, D.V., Farag, M. Smith, J.T., May, G.D., Mendes, P., Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2005). Metabolic profiling of Medicago truncatula cell cultures reveals effects of biotic and abiotic elicitors on metabolism. Journal of Experimental Botany 56: 323-336.

  29. Suzuki, H., Reddy, M.S.S., Naoumkina, M., Aziz, N., May, G.D., Huhman, D.V., Sumner, L.W., Blount, J.W., Mendes, P. and Dixon, R.A. (2005). Methyl jasmonate and yeast elicitor induce differential genetic and metabolic reprogramming in cell suspension cultures of the model legume Medicago truncatula. Planta 220: 698-707.

  30. Ferrer, J.L., Zubieta, C., Dixon, R.A. and Noel, J.P. (2005). Crystal structures of alfalfa caffeoyl CoA 3-O-methyltransferase. Plant Physiology 137: 1009-1017.

  31. Achnine, L., Huhman, D.V., Sumner, L.W., Blount, J.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2005) Genomics-based selection and functional characterization of triterpene glycosyltransferases from the model legume Medicago truncatula. Plant Journal 41: 875-887.

  32. Deavours, B.E. and Dixon, R.A. (2005). Metabolic engineering of isoflavonoid biosynthesis in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Physiology 138: 2245-2259.

  33. Sharma, S.B. and Dixon, R.A. (2005). Metabolic engineering of proanthocyanidins by ectopic expression of transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Journal 44: 62-75.

  34. Bomati, E.K., Austin, M.B., Bowmann, M.E., Dixon, R.A. and Noel, J.P. (2005). Structural elucidation of chalcone reductase and implications for deoxychalcone biosynthesis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280: 30496-30503.

  35. Shao, H., He, X., Achnine, L., Blount, J.W., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, X. (2005). Crystal structures of a multifunctional triterpene/flavonoid uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase from the model legume Medicago truncatula. Plant Cell 17: 3141-3154.

  36. Reddy, M.S.S., Chen, F., Shadle, G., Jackson, L., Aljoe, H. and Dixon, R.A. (2005). Targeted down-regulation of cytochrome P450 enzymes for forage quality improvement in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 102: 16573-16578.

  37. Lei, Z., Elmer, A.M., Watson, B.S., Dixon, R.A., Mendes, P.J. and Sumner, L.W. (2005). A 2-DE proteomics reference map and systematic identification of 1367 proteins from a cell suspension culture of the model legume Medicago truncatula. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics 4: 1812-1825.

  38. Dixon, R.A., Xie, D.-Y., and Sharma, S.B. (2005). Tansley Review. Proanthocyanidins- a final frontier in flavonoid research. New Phytologist 165: 9-28.

  39. Xie, D.-Y. and Dixon, R.A (2005). Proanthocyanidin biosynthesis- still more questions than answers? Phytochemistry 66: 2126-2143.

  40. Dixon, R.A. (2005) Engineering plant natural product pathways. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 8: 329-336.

  41. Kutchan, T and Dixon, R.A. (2005) Secondary metabolism: nature's chemical reservoir under deconvolution. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 8: 227-229.

  42. Dixon, R.A. (2005). A two-for-one in tomato nutritional enhancement. Nature Biotechnology 23: 825-826.

  43. Dixon, R.A. (2005). Plant biotechnology kicks off into the 21st century (Editorial). Trends in Plant Science 10: 560-561.

  44. Xie, D.-Y., Sharma, S.B., Wright, E., Wang, Z.-Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2006). Metabolic engineering of proanthocyanidins through co-expression of anthocyanidin reductase and the PAP1 MYB transcription factor. Plant Journal 45: 895-907.

  45. Crane, C., Wright, E., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z.-Y. (2006) Transgenic Medicago truncatula plants obtained from Agrobacterium tumefaciens-transformed roots and Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed hairy roots. Planta 223: 1344-1354.

  46. Tian, L. and Dixon, R.A. (2006). An artificial bifunctional enzyme for engineering of isoflavone metabolism in non-legume plants. Planta 224: 496-507.

  47. Wright, E., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z.-Y. (2006). Medicago truncatula transformation using cotyledon explants. In Agrobacterium Protocols (Ed. K. Wang), Humana Press, pp. 129-135.

  48. Crane, C., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z.-TY. (2006). Medicago truncatula transformation using root explants. In "Agrobacterium Protocols" (Ed. K. Wang), Humana Press, pp. 137-142.

  49. Ralph, J., Akiyama, T., Kim, H., Lu, F., Schatz, P.F., Marita, J.M., Ralph, S.A., Reddy, M.S.S., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2006) Effects of coumarate 3-hydroxylase down-regulation on lignin structure. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281: 8843-8853.

  50. Wang, X., He, X., Lin, J., Shao, H. and Dixon, R.A. (2006) Crystal structure of isoflavone reductase from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Journal of Molecular Biology 358: 1341-1352.

  51. Liu, C.-J., Deavours, B.E., Richard, S.B., Ferrer, J.-L., Blount, J.W., Huhman, D., Dixon, R.A. and Noel, J.P. (2006). Structural basis for dual functionality of isoflavonoid O-methyltransferases in the evolution of plant defense responses. Plant Cell 18: 3656-3669.

  52. Deavours, B.E., Liu, C.-J., Naoumkina, M.A., Tang, Y., Farag, M.A., Sumner, L.W., Noel, J.P. and Dixon, R.A. (2006). Functional analysis of members of the isoflavone and isoflavanone O-methyltransferase enzyme families from the model legume Medicago truncatula. Plant Molecular Biology 62: 715-733.

  53. Chen, F., Reddy, M.S.S., Temple, S., Jackson, L., Shadle, G. and Dixon, R.A. (2006) Multi-site genetic modulation of monolignol biosynthesis suggests new routes for the formation of syringyl lignin and wall-bound ferulic acid in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Journal 48: 113-124.

  54. He, X., Wang, X. and Dixon, R.A. (2006) Mutational analysis of the Medicago glycosyltransferase UGT71G1 reveals residues that control regio-selectivity for (iso)flavonoid glycosylation. Journal of Biological Chemistry 281: 34441-34447.

  55. Tian, L., Blount, J.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2006). Phenylpropanoid glycosyltransferases from osage orange (Maclura pomifera) fruit. FEBS Letters 580: 6915-6920.

  56. Dixon, R.A., Achnine, L., Deavours, B.E. and Naoumkina, M. (2006). Metabolomics and gene identification in plant natural product pathways. In: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, "Plant Metabolomics", edited by K. Saito, R. A. Dixon and L. Willmitzer, Springer, pp 243-259.

  57. Dixon, R.A., Gang, D.R., Charlton, A.J., Fiehn, O., Kuiper, H.A., Reynolds, T.L., Tjeerdema, R.S., Jeffrey, E.H., Germans, J.B., Ridley, W.P. and Seiber, J.N. (2006). Applications of metabolomics to agriculture. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54: 8984-8994.

  58. Marais, J.P.J., Deavours, B.E., Dixon, R.A. and Ferreira, D. (2006). The stereochemistry of flavonoids. In The Science of Flavonoids, ed E. Grotewold, Springer, pp. 1-46.

  59. Modolo, L., Blount, J.W., Achnine, L., Naoumkina, M., Wang, X. and Dixon, R.A. (2007) A functional genomics approach to (iso)flavonoid glycosylation in the model legume Medicago truncatula. Plant Molecular Biology 64: 499-518.

  60. Shadle, G., Chen, F., Reddy, M.S.S., Jackson, L., Nakashima, J., and Dixon, R.A. (2007). Down-regulation of hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxy cinnamoyl transferase in transgenic alfalfa impacts lignification, development and forage quality. Phytochemistry 68: 1521-1529.

  61. Shao, H., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, X. (2007) Crystal structure of vestitone reductase from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Journal of Molecular Biology 369, 265-276.

  62. Li, L., Modolo, L.V., Escamilla-Trevino, L.L., Achnine, L., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, X. (2007) Crystal structure of Medicago truncatula UGT85H2 - insights into the structural basis of a multifunctional (iso)flavonoid glycosyltransferase. Journal of Molecular Biology 370: 951-963.

  63. Chen, F., and Dixon, R.A. (2007) Lignin modification improves fermentable sugar yields for biofuel production. Nature Biotechnology 25: 759-761.

  64. Tian, L., DellaPenna, D. and Dixon, R.A. (2007) The pds2 mutation is a lesion in the Arabidopsis homogentisate solanesyltransferase gene involved in plastoquinone biosynthesis. Planta 226: 1067-1073.

  65. Shrestha, R., Kim, S-C. Dyer, J.M., Dixon, R.A. and Chapman, K.D. (2006). Plant fatty acid (ethanol) amide hydrolases. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta- Molecular and Cellular Biology of Lipids 1761: 324-334.

  66. Pang, Y., Peel, G.J., Wright, E., Wang, Z-Y, and Dixon, R.A. (2007). Early steps in proanthocyanidin biosynthesis in the model legume Medicago truncatula. Plant Physiology 145: 601-615.

  67. Peel, G.J. and Dixon, R.A. (2007) Detection and quantification of engineered proanthocyanidins in transgenic plants. Natural Product Communications 2: 1009-1014.

  68. Naoumkina, M., Farag, M.A., Sumner, L.W., Tang, Y., Liu, C.-J. and Dixon, R.A. (2007) Different mechanisms for phytoalexin induction by pathogen- and wound signals in Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104: 17909-17915.

  69. Naoumkina, M., Torres-Jerez, I., Allen, S., He, J., Zhao, P. Dixon, R.A. and May, G.D. (2007) Analysis of cDNA libraries from developing seeds of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub). BMC Plant Biology 7: 62 (online).

  70. Dixon, R.A., Bouton, J.H., Narasimhamoorthy, B., Saha, M., Wang, Z.-Y., and May, G.D. (2007). Beyond structural genomics for plant science. Advances in Agronomy 95: 77-161.

  71. Dixon, R.A. (2007) Tom Mabry: Over 45 Years of Phytochemistry, Texas-Style. Natural Product Communications 2 (10).

  72. Farag, M.A., Huhman, D.V., Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2008). Metabolomics reveals novel pathways and differential mechanistic and elicitor-specific responses in phenylpropanoid and isoflavonoid biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula cell cultures. Plant Physiology 146: 387-402.

  73. He, X.-Z., Li, W.-S., Blount, J.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Regioselective synthesis of plant flavonoid glycosides in E.coli. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 80: 253-260.

  74. Marks, M.D., Gilding, E., Betancur, L., Chen, F., Bauer, S., Wenger, J.P., Sommerville, C., Dixon, R.A., and Haigler, C.H. (2008) A new method for isolating large quantities of Arabidopsis trichomes for transcriptome, cell wall and other types of analyses. Plant Journal 56: 483-492. (cover article)

  75. Naoumkina, M., Vaghchhipawala, S., Tang, Y., Ben, Y., Powell, R.J. and Dixon, R.A. (2008) Metabolic and genetic perturbations accompany the modification of galactomannan in seeds of Medicago truncatula expressing mannan synthase from guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) Plant Biotechnology Journal 6: 619-631.

  76. Jackson, L.A., Shadle, G.L., Zhou, R., Nakashima, J., Chen, F., and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Improving saccharification efficiency of alfalfa stems through modification of the terminal stages of monolignol biosynthesis. Bioenergy Research 1: 180-192.

  77. Nakashima, J., Chen, F., Jackson, L., Shadle, G., and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Multi-site genetic modification of monolignol biosynthesis in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) - effects on lignin composition in specific cell types. New Phytologist 179: 738-750.

  78. Pang, Y., Peel, G.J., Sharma, S.B., Tang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2008). A transcript profiling approach reveals an epicatechin-specific glucosyltransferase expressed in the seed coat of Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105: 14210-14215.

  79. Naoumkina, M., He, X-Z. and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Elicitor-induced transcription factors for metabolic reprogramming of secondary metabolism in Medicago truncatula. BMC Plant Biology 8: 132.

  80. Wang, G., Tian, L., Aziz, N., Broun, P., Dai, X., He, J., King, A., Zhao, P.X, and Dixon, R.A. (2008) Terpene biosynthesis in glandular trichomes of hop (Humulus lupulus L.). Plant Physiology 148: 1254-1266.

  81. Slocombe, S.P., Schauvinhold, I., McQuinn, R.P., Besser, K., Welsby, N.A., Harper, A., Aziz, N., Li, Y., Larson, T.R., Giovannoni, J., Dixon, R.A. and Broun, P. (2008) Transcriptomic and reverse genetic analyses of branched chain fatty acid and acyl sugar production in Solanum pennellii and Nicotiana benthamiana. Plant Physiology 148: 1830-1846.

  82. Tian, L., Pang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Biosynthesis and genetic engineering of proanthocyanidins and (iso)flavonoids. Phytochemistry Reviews 7: 445-465.

  83. Modolo, L.V., Pang, Y., Tian, L. and Dixon, R.A. (2008). Gene discovery and metabolic engineering in the phenylpropanoid pathway. Recent Advances in Polyphenols Research 1: 113-138.

  84. Ralph, J., Brunow, G., Harris, P., Dixon, R.A. and Boerjan, W. (2008). Lignification: are lignins biosynthesized via simple combinatorial chemistry or via proteinaceous control and template replication? Recent Advances in Polyphenols Research 1: 36-66.

  85. Naoumkina, M. and Dixon, R.A. (2008) Subcellular localization of flavonoid natural products- a signaling function? Plant Signaling and Behavior 3: 573-575.

  86. Tian, L., Peel, G.J., Lei, Z., Aziz, N., Dai, X., He, J.,Watson, B., Zhao, P.X., Sumner, L.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2009). Transcript and proteomic analysis of developing white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) roots. BMC Plant Biology 9: 1. (online)

  87. Uppalapati, S.R., Marek, S.M., Lee, H-K., Nakashima, J., Tang, Y., Sledge, M.K., Dixon, R.A. and Mysore, K.S. (2009) Global gene expression profiling during Medicago truncatula-phymatotrichopsis omnivore interaction reveals a role for jasmonic acid, ethylene, and the flavonoid pathway in disease development. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions 22: 7-17. (cover article)

  88. Beßer, K., Harper, A., Welsby, N., Schauvinhold, I., Slocombe, S., Li, Y., Dixon, R.A. and Broun, P. (2009). Divergent regulation of terpenoid metabolism in the trichomes of wild and cultivated tomato species. Plant Physiology 149: 499-514.

  89. Farag, M.A., Deavours, B.E., De-Fatima, A., Naoumkina, M., Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2009) Integrated metabolite and transcript profiling identify a biosynthetic mechanism for hispidol in Medicago truncatula cell cultures. Plant Physiology 151: 1096-1113.

  90. Peel, G.J., Modolo, L.V., Pang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2009) The LAP1 MYB transcription factor orchestrates anthocyanidin biosynthesis and glycosylation in Medicago. Plant Journal 59: 136-149. (cover article)

  91. Modolo, L.V., Escamilla-Trevino, L.L., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, X. (2009). Single amino acid mutations of Medicago glycosyltransferase UGT85H2 enhance activity and impart reversibility. FEBS Letters 583: 2131-2135.

  92. Marks, M.D., Wenger, J., Gilding, E., Jilk, R. and Dixon, R.A. (2009) Transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis wild-type and gl3-sst sim trichomes identifies five additional genes required for trichome development. Molecular Plant 2: 803-822.

  93. Wang, G. and Dixon, R.A. (2009). Heterodimeric geranyl(geranyl)diphosphate synthase from hop (Humulus lupulus) and the evolution of monoterpene biosynthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106: 9914-9919.

  94. Marks, M.D., Tian, L., Soto-Fuentes, W., He, J, Gang, D.R., Weiblen, G.D. and Dixon, R.A. (2009) Identification of candidate genes affecting Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol biosynthesis in Cannabis sativa. Journal of Experimental Botany 60: 3715-3726.

  95. Pang, Y., Wenger, J.P., Saathoff, K., Peel, G.J., Wen, J., Huhman, D., Allen, S.N.,Tang, Y., Cheng, X., Tadege, M., Ratet, P., Mysore, K.S., Sumner, L.W., Marks, M.D. and Dixon, R.A. (2009). A WD40 repeat protein from Medicago truncatula is necessary for tissue-specific anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin biosynthesis, but not for trichome development. Plant Physiology 151: 1114-1129.

  96. Zhao, J. and Dixon, R.A. (2009). MATE transporters facilitate vacuolar uptake of epicatechin 3'-O-glucoside for proanthocyanidin biosynthesis. Plant Cell 21: 2323-2340.

  97. Modolo, L.V., Li, L., Dixon, R.A., and Wang, X. (2009) Crystal structures of glycosyltransferase UGT78G1 reveal the molecular basis for glycosylation and deglycosylation of (iso)flavonoids. Journal of Molecular Biology 392: 1292-1302.

  98. Reichert, A.I., He, X-Z. and Dixon, R.A. (2009). Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)-characterization of the four tobacco PAL genes and active heterotetrameric enzymes. Biochemical Journal 424: 233-242.

  99. Modolo, L.V., Reichert, A.I., and Dixon, R.A. (2009) Introduction to the different classes of biosynthetic enzymes. In Plant-Derived Natural Products, Synthesis, Function and Application. eds. Osbourn, A and Lanzotti, V., Springer, pp 143-163.

  100. Dixon, R.A. (2009) DOE Bioenergy Center Special Issue. The Bioenergy Sciences Center (BESC). Editorial. BioEnergy Research 2: 175-176.

  101. Chory, J., Dean, C., and Dixon, R.A. (2009) Obituary. Chris Lamb. American Society of Plant Biologists Newsletter. 36: 32-34.

  102. Shen, H., Yin Y, Chen, F. Xu, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2009) A bioinformatic analysis of NAC genes for plant cell wall development in relation to lignocellulosic bioenergy production. BioEnergy Research 2: 217-312.

  103. Escamilla-Treviño, L.L., Shen, H., Uppalapati, S.R., Ray, T., Tang, Y., Hernandez, T., Yin, Y., Xu, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) possesses a divergent family of cinnamoyl CoA reductases with distinct biochemical properties. New Phytologist 185: 143-155.

  104. Dai, X., Wang, G., Yang, D.S., Tang, Y., Broun, P., Marks, M.D., Sumner, L.W., Dixon, R.A. and Zhao, P.Z. (2010) TrichOME: A comparative omics database for plant trichomes. Plant Physiology 152: 44-54.

  105. Sharma, V., Zhang, C., Pasinetti, G.M. and Dixon, R.A. (2010) Fractionation of grape seed proanthocyanidins for bioactivity assessment. In The Biological Activity of Phytochemicals, ed Gang, D.R. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry (Springer, New York) 41: 33-46.

  106. Zeng, Y., Saar, B.G., Friedrich, M.G., Chen, F., Liu, Y-S., Dixon, R.A., Himmel, M.E., Xie, X.S., and Ding, S-Y. (2010) Imaging lignin-down-regulated alfalfa using Coherent Anti-Stoke Raman Scattering Microscopy. BioEnergy Research 3: 272-277.

  107. Naoumkina, M.A., Modolo, L.V., Huhman, D.V., Urbanczyk-Wochniak, E., Tang, Y., Sumner, L.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2010) Genomic and co-expression analyses predict multiple genes involved in triterpene saponin biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula. Plant Cell 22: 850-866.

  108. Zhao, Q., Gallego-Giraldo, L., Wang, H., Zeng, Y., Ding, S-Y., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2010) A NAC transcription factor orchestrates multiple features of cell wall development in Medicago truncatula. Plant Journal 63: 100-114.

  109. Zhao, Q., Wang, H., Yin, Y., Xu, Y., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). Syringyl lignin biosynthesis is directly regulated by a secondary cell wall master switch. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107: 14496-14501.

  110. Zhou, R., Nakashima, J., Jackson, L., Shadle, G., Temple, S., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). Distinct cinnamoyl CoA reductases involved in parallel routes to lignin in Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107: 17803-17808.

  111. Zhao, J. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). The "ins" and "outs" of flavonoid transport. Trends in Plant Science 15: 72-80.

  112. Naoumkina, M.A., Zhao, Q., Gallego-Giraldo, L., Dai, X. Zhao, P.X. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). Genome-wide analysis of phenylpropanoid defence pathways. Molecular Plant Pathology 11: 829-846. (cover article)

  113. Zhao, J., Pang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2010) The mysteries of proanthocyanidin transport and polymerization. Plant Physiology 153, 437-443.

  114. Dixon, R.A. and Pasinetti, G.M. (2010). Flavonoids and isoflavonoids: from plant biology to agriculture and neuroscience. Plant Physiology 154, 453-457.

  115. Ziebell, A., Gracom, K., Katahira, R., Chen, F., Pu, Y., Ragauskas, A., Dixon, R.A. and Davis, M. (2010). Increase in 4-coumaryl alcohol (H) units during lignification in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) alters extractability and molecular weight of lignin. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285, 38961-38968.

  116. Wang, H., Avci, U., Nakashima, J., Hahn, M.G., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2010). Mutation of WRKY transcription factors initiates pith secondary wall formation and increases stem biomass in dicotyledonous plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 107, 22338-22343. (Featured as an Editor's Choice article in Science)

  117. Lei, Z., Chen, F., Watson, B., Nagaraj, S., Elmer, A., Dixon, R.A. and Sumner, L.W. (2010). Comparative proteomics of yeast-elicited Medicago truncatula cell suspensions reveal induction of isoflavonoid biosynthesis and cell wall modifications. Journal of Proteome Research 9, 6220-6231.

  118. Dixon, R.A. (2011). Vanillin biosynthesis- not as simple as it seems? In Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology, First Edition, edited D. Havkin-Frenkel and F. C. Belanger, Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 292-298.

  119. Naoumkina, M.A., and Dixon, R.A. (2011) Characterization of the mannan synthase promoter from guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba). Plant Cell Reports 30: 997-1106.

  120. Gallego-Giraldo, L., Jikumaru, Y., Kamiya, Y., Tang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2011). Selective lignin down-regulation leads to constitutive defense response expression in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). New Phytologist 190: 627-639.

  121. He, X.-Z., Blount, J.W., Ge, S., Tang, Y. and Dixon, R.A. (2011). A genomic approach to isoflavone biosynthesis in kudzu (Pueraria lobata). Planta, 233, 843-855.

  122. Dixon, R.A. (2011). Chris Lamb: A visionary leader in plant science. Annual Review of Phytopathology 49, 31-45.

  123. Zhao, Q, and Dixon, R.A. (2011). Transcriptional networks for lignin biosynthesis: more complex than we thought? Trends in Plant Science 16, 227-233.

  124. Dien, B.S., Miller, D.J., Hector, R.E., Dixon, R.A., Chen, F., McCaslin, M., Reisen, P., Sarath, G. and Cotta. M.A. (2011) Enhancing alfalfa conversion efficiencies for production of sugars and ethanol by altering lignin composition. Bioresource Technology 102, 6479-6486.

  125. Fu, C., Mielenz, J.R., Xiao, X., Ge, Y., Hamilton, C.Y., Chen, F., Bouton, J., Foston, M., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z-Y. (2011) Genetic manipulation of lignin biosynthesis in switchgrass significantly reduces recalcitrance and improves biomass ethanol production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108, 3803-3808.

  126. Fu, C., Xiao, X., Xi, Y., Ge, Y., Chen, F., Bouton, J., Dixon, R.A., and Wang Z-Y. (2011). Downregulation of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) leads to improved saccharification efficiency in switchgrass. BioEnergy Research 4, 153-164.

  127. Lee, Y., Chen, F., Dixon, R.A. and Voit, E.G. (2011) Constraint-based analysis of transgenic alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) suggests new postulates for monolignol biosynthesis. PloS Computational Biology, published 19 May, 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002047.

  128. Zhao, J., Huhman, D.V., Shadle, G., Sumner, L.W., Tang, Y. and Dixon. R.A. (2011). MATE2 mediates vacuolar sequestration of flavonoid glycosides and glycoside malonates in Medicago truncatula. Plant Cell 23, 1536-1555.

  129. Xu, B., Escamilla-Treviño, L.L., Noppadon, S., Shen, Z., Shen, H., Zhang, Y-H. P., Dixon, R.A. and Zhao, B. (2011). Silencing of 4-coumarate: Coenzyme A ligase in switchgrass leads to reduced lignin content and improved fermentable sugar yields for biofuel production. New Phytologist 92, 611-625.

  130. Wang, H., Zhao, Q., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2011). NAC domain function and transcriptional control of a secondary cell wall master switch. Plant Journal 68, 1104-1114.

  131. Nevin D. Young, Frédéric Debellé, Giles Oldroyd, Rene Geurts, Steven B. Cannon, Klaus F. X. Mayer, Jérôme Gouzy, Yves Van de Peer, Heiko Schoof, Michael K. Udvardi, Douglas R. Cook, Blake C. Meyers, Manuel Spannagl, Foo Cheung, Stephane De Mita, Sebastian Proost, Vivek Krishnakumar, Heidrun Gundlach, Shiguo Zhou, Joann Mudge, Arvind K. Bharti, Vagner A. Benedito, Jeremy D. Murray, Marina A. Naoumkina, Benjamin Rosen, Kevin A. Silverstein, Haibao Tang, Stephane Rombauts, Patrick X. Zhao, Peng Zhou, Valérie Barbe, Philippe Bardou, Michael Bechner, Arnaud Bellec, Anne Berger, Hélène Bergès, Shelby Bidwell, Ton Bisseling, Nathalie Choisne, Arnaud Couloux, Roxanne Denny, Shweta Deshpande, Jeffrey J. Doyle, Anne-Marie Dudez, Andrew D. Farmer, Stéphanie Fouteau, Carolien Franken, Chrystel Gibelin, John Gish, Alvaro J. González, Pamela J. Green, Asis Hallab, Marijke Hartog, Axin Hua, Sean Humphray, Dong-Hoon Jeong, Yi Jing, Anika Jöcker, Steve M. Kenton, Dong-Jin Kim, Kathrin Klee, Hongshing Lai, Chunting Lang, Shaoping Lin, Simone L Macmil, Ghislaine Magdelenat, Lucy Matthews, Jamison McCorrison, Erin L. Monaghan, Jeong-Hwan Mun, Fares Z. Najar, Christine Nicholson, Céline Noirot, Charles R. Paule, Julie Poulain, Florent Prion, Baifang Qin, Chunmei Qu, Ernest F. Retzel, Clare Riddle, Erika Sallet, Sylvie Samain, Nicolas Samson, Olivier Saurat, Claude Scarpelli, Thomas Schiex, Béatrice Segurens, Majesta Seigfried, Andrew Severin, D. Janine Sherrier, Ruihua Shi, Sarah Sims, Senjuti Sinharoy, Lieven Sterck, Iryna Vasylenko, Agnès Viollet, Keqin Wang, Bing-Bing Wang, Xiaohong Wang, Jens Warfsmann, Jean Weissenbach, Doug D. White, Jim D. White, Graham B. Wiley, Patrick Wincker, Yanbo Xing, Limei Yang, Ziyun Yao, Fu Ying, Jixian Zhai, Liping Zhou, Antoine Zuber, Jean Dénarié, Richard A. Dixon, Gregory D. May, David C. Schwartz, Jane Rogers, Francis Quétier, Christopher D. Town, and Bruce A. Roe. (2011). The Medicago genome provides insight into evolution of rhizobial symbiosis. Nature 480, 520-524.

  132. Shen, H., He, X., Poovaiah, C.R., Wuddineh, W.A., Ma, J., Mann, D.G.J., Abercrombie, L.A., Wang, H., Jackson, L., Tang, Y., Stewart, C.N. Jr., Chen, F. and Dixon, R.A. (2012). Functional characterization of the switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) R2R3-MYB transcription factor PvMYB4 for improvement of lignocellulosic feedstocks. New Phytologist 193, 121-136.

  133. Mann, D.G.J., LaFayette, P.R., Abercrombie, L.L., King, Z.R., Mazarei, M., Halter, M.C., Poovaiah, C.R., Baxter, H., Shen, H., Dixon, R.A., Parrott, W.A. and Stewart, Jr. C.N. (2011). Gateway-compatible vectors for high-throughput gene functional analysis in switchgrass and other monocot species. Plant Biotechnology Journal 10, 226-236.

  134. Blount, J.W., Ferruzzi, M., Raftery, D., Pasinetti, G.M., and Dixon, R.A. (2011). Enzymatic synthesis of substituted epicatechins for bioactivity studies in neurological disorders. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 417, 457-461.

  135. Wang, H. and Dixon, R.A. (2012). On-off switches for secondary cell wall biosynthesis. Molecular Plant 5, 297-303.

  136. Gallego-Giraldo, L., Escamilla-Trevino, L., Jackson, L.A. and Dixon, R.A. (2011).

  137. Salicylic acid mediates the reduced growth of lignin down-regulated plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108, 20814-20819.

  138. Verdier, J., Zhao, J., Torres-Jerez, I., Ge, S., Liu, C., He, X., Mysore, K.S., Dixon, R.A. and Udvardi, M.K. (2012). The MtPAR MYB transcription factor acts as an on-switch for proanthocyanidin biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 109, 1766-1771.

  139. Chen, F., Tobimatsu, Y., Havkin-Frenkel, D., Dixon, R.A. and Ralph, J. (2012). A polymer of caffeyl alcohol in plant seeds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.109, 1772-1777 (cover article).

  140. Wang, J., Ferruzzi, M.G., Ho, L., Blount, J., Janle, E., Arrieta-Cruz, I., Sharma, V., Cooper, B., Lobo, J., Simon, J.E., Zhang, C., Cheng, A., Qian, X., Pavlides, C., Dixon, R.A. and Pasinetti, G.M. (2012). Brain-targeted proanthocyanidin metabolites for Alzheimer's disease treatment. Journal of Neuroscience 32, 5144-5150.

  141. Shen, G., Huhman, D., Lei, Z., Snyder, J., Sumner, L.W. and Dixon, R.A. (2012). Characterization of an isoflavonoid-specific prenyltransferase from Lupinus albus. Plant Physiology 159, 70-80.

  142. Pattathil, S., Saffold, T., Gallego-Giraldo, L., O'Neill, M., York, W.S., Dixon, R.A. and Hahn, M.G. (2012). Changes in cell wall carbohydrate extractability are correlated with reduced recalcitrance of HCT down-regulated alfalfa biomass. Industrial Biotechnology 8, 217-221.

  143. Dixon, R.A., Liu, C. and Jun, J.H. (2012). Metabolic engineering of anthocyanins and condensed tannins in plants. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 24, in press.

  144. Tschaplinski, T.J., Standaert, R.F., Engle, N.L., Martin, M.Z., Sangha, A.K., Parks, J.M., Smith, J.C., Samuel, R., Pu, Y., Ragauskas, A.J., Hamilton, C.Y., Fu, C., Wang, Z-Y., Davison, B.H., and Dixon, R.A. (2013) Down-regulation of the caffeic acid O-methyltransferase gene in switchgrass reveals a novel monolignol analog. Biotechnology for Biofuels, in press.

  145. Chen, F., Tobimatsu, Y., Jackson, L. Ralph, J. and Dixon, R.A. (2013). Novel seed coat lignins in the Cactaceae: structure, distribution and implications for the evolution of lignin diversity. Plant Journal 73, 201-211.

  146. Lee, Y., Escamilla-Treviño, L., Dixon, R.A. and Voit, E.O. (2012). Functional analysis of metabolic channeling and regulation in lignin biosynthesis: a computational approach. PLOS Coputational Biology 8 (11), e1002769 doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002769.

  147. Zhang, J.-Y., Lee, Y.-C., Torres-Jerez, I., Wang, M., Yin, Y., Chou, W.-C., He, J., Shen, H., Srivastava, A.C., Pennacchio, C., Lindquist, E., Grimwood, J., Schmutz, J., Xu, Y., Sharma, M., Sharma, R., Bartley, L.E., Ronald, P.C., Saha, M.C., Dixon, R.A., Tang, Y., and Udvardi, M.K. (2013). Development of an integrated transcript sequence database and a gene expression atlas for gene discovery and analysis in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). Plant Journal, in press.

  148. Dixon, R.A. (2013). News and Views. Microbiology: Break down the walls. Nature 493, 36-37, 2013.

  149. Pang, Y., I. Abeysinghe, S.B., He, J., He, X-Z., Huhman, D.V., Mewan, K.M., Sumner, L.W., Yun J. and Dixon, R.A. (2013) Functional characterization of proanthocyanidin pathway enzymes from tea (Camellia sinensis) and their application for metabolic engineering. Plant Physiology, in press.

  150. Hardin, C.F., Chunxiang Fu, C., Hisano, H., Xaio, X., Shen, H., Stewart Jr., C.N., Parrott, W., Dixon, R.A. and Wang, Z.Y. (2013). Standardization of switchgrass sample collection for cell wall and biomass trait analysis. BioEnergy Research, in press.

  151. Pang, Y., Cheng, X., Huhman, D., Ma, J., Peel, J.G., Yonekura-Sakakibara, K., Saito, K., Shen, G., Sumner, L.W., Tang, Y., Wen, J, Yun, J, and Dixon, R.A. (2013). Medicago glucosyltransferase UGT72L1: potential roles in proanthocyanidin biosynthesis. Planta, in press.

  152. Shen, H., Poovaiah, C.R., Ziebell, A., Tschaplinski, T.J., Pattathil, S., Gjersing, E., Engle, N.L., Katahira, R., Pu, Y., Sykes, R., Chen, F., Ragauskas, A.J., Mielenz, J.R., Hahn, M.G., Davis, M., Stewart, Jr., C.N. and Dixon, R.A. (2013). Enhanced characteristics of genetically modified switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) for high biofuel production. Biotechnology for Biofuels, in press.

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Patents: 
  1. Transgenic plants containing multiple disease resistance genes. C.J. Lamb, Q. Zhu, E.A. Maher, and R.A. Dixon. US patent number 5,530,187.
  2. Isoflavone reductase promoter. R.A. Dixon, N.L. Paiva, and A. Oommen. US patent number 5,750,399. (International patents issued in Australia, New Zealand).
  3. Constitutive disease resistance (CDR1) gene and methods of use thereof. Y. Xia, R.A. Dixon and C. Lamb. US patent number 6,316,697.
  4. Regulation of anthocyanin pigment production. J. Borevitz, X. Xia, R.A. Dixon and C. Lamb. Issued. US patent number 6,573,432.
  5. Genetic manipulation of isoflavonoids. R.A. Dixon and C.L. Steele. US patent number 7,038,113.
  6. Isoflavonoid methylation enzyme. R.A. Dixon and X.-Z. He. US patent number 7,432,425.
  7. Method for modifying lignin composition and increasing in vivo digestibility of forages. R.A. Dixon and D. Guo. US patent number 7,888,533; Canadian Patent # 2,404,104.
  8. Methods and compositions for production of flavonoid and isoflavonoid nutraceuticals. R.A. Dixon, C.-J. Liu and B. Deavours. Australian Patent No. 2003270537, New Zealand Patent No. 538259.
  9. Methods and compositions for determining enzymatic activity and specificity of methyltransferases, J.Noel, C. Zubieta and R.A. Dixon. US patent No. 7,384,759.
  10. Genetic manipulation of condensed tannins. R.A. Dixon, N.L. Paiva, D. Xie, S. Sharma. European patent No. 1546335. Australian patent No. 60/392,562. New Zealand Patent No. 552453. US patents No. 7,622,638; 7,709,701.
  11. Genetic manipulation of condensed tannins. S.B. Sharma and R.A. Dixon. Australian patent number 2005265356.
  12. Plant fatty acid amide hydrolases. K.D. Chapman, R. Shrestha and R.A. Dixon. US patent number 7,316,928.
  13. Plant isoflavonoid hydroxylases and methods of used thereof. R.A. Dixon and C.-J. Liu, US patent numbers 7,442,851; 8,129,592.
  14. Plant N-acylethanolamine binding proteins. K.D. Chapman, S. Tripathi and R.A. Dixon. Pending
  15. Modification of lignin biosynthesis. R.A. Dixon, M.S.S. Reddy and F. Chen. US patent number 7,663, 023; New Zealand patent number 552941.
  16. Methods and compositions for modifying plant metabolic pathways. L. Tian and R.A. Dixon. US patent number 7,8165,07; New Zealand patent number 570395; Australian patent number 2007213711.
  17. Plant isoflavone and isoflavanone O-methyltransferase genes, B.E. Deavours, C.-J. Liu and R.A. Dixon. Pending.
  18. Production of proanthocyanidins to improve forage quality. R.A. Dixon, L. Modolo and G. Peel. US patent number 7,880,059; Australian patent number 2008245794.
  19. Disease resistant plants. S.R. Uppalapati, K.S. Mysore, W. Li, L.W. Sumner and R.A. Dixon. US patent number 8,138,392.
  20. Epicatechin glucosyltransferase. R.A. Dixon, Y. Pang, and G.J. Peel. Pending in US, issued in New Zealand, patent number 591217.
  21. Plants with modified lignin content and methods for production thereof. Q. Zhao, F. Chen and R. A. Dixon. Pending.
  22. Caffeoyl CoA reductase. R. Zhou, R.A. Dixon and F. Chen. US provisional patent application # 13/181,284.
  23. Transcription factors for modification of lignin content in plants. H.Wang, F. Chen and R.A. Dixon. United States Patent, US 2012/0117691 A1.
  24. Methods and compositions for regulating production of proanthocyanidins. J. Verdier, J. Zhao, I. Torres-Jerez, S. Ge, K. S. Mysore, R. A. Dixon and M. K. Udvardi. US Provisional Patent Application 61/474,224
  25. Compositions and methods for improved plant feedstock. H. Shen, F. Chen and R. A. Dixon. Noble Ref No. 079USPI, US provisional patent 13/462,583.

Current Funding

US Department of Agriculture (NIFA) Plant Biochemistry. (PI R.A. Dixon). Deciphering Proanthocyanidin Biosynthesis in Alfalfa. $336,063. 2009-2012.

United States Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers. ($125 million proposal with Oak Ridge National Laboratory as lead organization). (Noble Foundation PIs R.A. Dixon, F. Chen, R.S. Nelson, Z.Y. Wang, M. Udvardi, Y. Tang, E. Blancaflor, K. Craven, M. Saha and J. Bouton). 2007-2012 ($8,265,872). Approved for 5 year renewal 2012-2017.

National Institutes of Health. CERC Alzheimers (Co-PI with scientists from Mt Sinai Medical Center and Purdue and Rutgers Universities). $322,672, 2007-2013.

Forage Genetics International. Genetic manipulation of lignin in alfalfa ($195,000). 2002-2004. Renewed 2004-2006 ($150,000). Renewed 2006-2008 ($170,000). Renewed 2009-2012. Renewed 2001-2015.

Forage Genetics International. Engineering condensed tannins in alfalfa ($200,000). 2000-2003. Renewed 2004-2007 ($225,000). Renewed 2007-2009 ($170,000). Renewed 2009-2012. Renewed 2012-2015.

National Science Foundation. US Japan.

Past Funding

The State of Oklahoma- Oklahoma Bioenergy Center. (PI R.A. Dixon). Improving the performance of transgenic plants with improved efficiency for bioethanol processing. $767,050, 2008-2011.

The State of Oklahoma- Oklahoma Bioenergy Center. (PI F. Chen, Co-PI R.A. Dixon). Increasing lignin content for production of biomass better suited to gasification. $253,290, 2008-2011.

US Department of Energy. Systematic modification of monolignol pathway gene expression for improved lignocellulose utilization. $700,000. 2006-2009.

National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program. A genomics approach to the synthesis and secretion of bioactive plant natural products. $1,400,000. 2006-2009.

The State of Oklahoma. The consortium for legume research: an integrated approach to cotton root rot disease of alfalfa. (Co-PI with Drs J. Bouton, B. Roe, S. Marek, K. Mysore, M. Sledge and L.W. Sumner). $1,500,000. 2005-2007.

Corporate sponsor. Characterization of Expressed Sequence Tags from Guar Seed cDNA Libraries. $620,360. 2004-2007. $232,000 extension for 2008. Renewed 2009.

National Science Foundation, Metabolic Biochemistry Program. Structural and Functional Studies of Plant Natural Product Uridine Diphosphate Glycosyltransferases. (Co-PI with Dr Xiaoqiang Wang). $495,000. 2004-2007.

US Department of Energy. Development of low lignin switchgrass for improved ethanol production. (Co-PI, with Drs Z-Y. Wang, F. Chen and J. Mielenz). $670,166. 2005-2008.

Forage Genetics International. Development of low-lignin silage maize (Co-PI with Dr Z-Y Wang [PI], J. Bouton). $159,750. 2006-2008 .

Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology Basic Plant Sciences Program. Characterization of isoflavone C-glycosyltransferase genes. $90,000. 2007-2009.

National Science Foundation, Developing Countries Collaboration (Plant Genome Grant extension). A genomics approach to improvement of disease resistance in tea (Camellia sinensis). $99,000. 2005-2007.

Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology/ Health Research Program. Genetic modification of health-promoting isoflavones. $135,000. 2002-005.

US Department of Energy. Deciphering the complex networks in monolignol formation, phenylpropanoid coupling and lignin assembly: an integrative approach (Co-PI with Dr Norman Lewis, Washington State University). $330,000. 2002-2005.

National Science Foundation. Plant Genome Program An integrated approach to functional genomics in a model legume (Co-PI with Dr Pedro Mendes, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute). $3,500,000. 2001-2005.

National Science Foundation Multi-User Equipment and Instrumentation Resources. A single photon confocal laser scanning microscope for multispectral imaging of plant cellular processes (Co-PI with Drs E. Blancaflor [PI], G.D. May, M.J. Roossinck and R.S. Nelson). $339,647. 2004-2007.

David Michael and Co. Philadelphia, PA. Cloning and transgenic expression of the chain shortening enzyme of vanillin biosynthesis. ($104,000). 1999-2001.

David Michael and Co. Philadelphia, PA. Isolation of the chain shortening enzyme of vanillin biosynthesis. ($50,000). 1998-99.

Agribiotech Inc. and Forage Genetics International. Improved digestibility of alfalfa by genetic engineering. ($165,000). 1998-2001.

National Science Foundation EPSCoR program - Multidisciplinary Approaches to Molecular Analysis of Plant Biotic Stress (Co-PI) ($975,000). 1992-1995.

UK Agricultural and Food Research Council - Enzymic and molecular genetic control of isoflavonoid phytoalexin biosynthesis. ($103,504). 1986-1989

UK Science and Engineering Research Council - The role of cinnamic acid as a modulator of the phenylpropanoid pathway in bean cells. ($87,211). 1986-1989.

Gatsby Charitable Foundation - Enzymology and molecular cloning of isoflavone O-methyltransferase from alfalfa. ($13,125). 1986-1989.

UK Agricultural and Food Research Council - Gene expression in the bean: Colletotrichum interaction. ($167,435). 1985-1988.

ICI Corporate Biosciences - Molecular mechanisms underlying cinnamic acid control of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase production and removal. ($12,696). 1985.

UK Agricultural and Food Research Council - Isolation, characterization and mode of action of endogenous elicitor molecules from Phaseolus vulgaris. ($112,429). 1984-1987.

University of London Central Research Fund - Materials for production of monoclonal antibodies against plant proteins ($1,225). 1983.

UK Science and Engineering Research Council and ICI Corporate Biosciences - Molecular mechanisms underlying cinnamic acid control of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase production and removal ($86,595). 1982-1985.

UK Agricultural Research Council - Enzymic changes in relation to phytoalexin induction in Phaseolus vulgaris. ($65,975). 1982-1985.

University of London Central Research Fund - Materials for density-labelling of plant proteins. ($1,050). 1981.

South African Department of Agriculture and Fisheries - Resistance of avocado to Phytophthora cinnamomi. ($2,625). 1981.

University of London Central Research Fund - Equipment for plant cell culture work. ($4,200). 1980.

UK Agricultural Research Council - Enzymology and regulation of phytoalexin induction in the French bean. ($31,500). 1979-1982.