Plant physiology

Two scientists in the Department of Plant Sciences -- Eduardo Blumwald and Tom Buckley -- have been named “highly cited researchers” in the field of plant and animal science for 2024 by the citation index Web of Science, owned by Clarivate.

They are among nine UC Davis researchers named for 2024. The distinction is based on the frequency their published work is cited by other scientists, showing “significant and broad influence in their fields,” according to Clarivate.

If you put a cutting of, say, a geranium or an inchplant, into a cup of water, you can see tender new roots reaching out within a few days. Soon, a tiny new leaf pokes out of the stem. What you’re seeing is the result of cell division – without which, nothing grows.

For the first time, a biophysical model has been created to describe an essential, life-giving process among plants: cell division through the building of a wall that divides the original cell into two daughter cells, called cytokinesis.