Blake Meyers
· Director and Distinguished ProfessorUniversity of California, Davis · Plant Biology
Active 1969–2026
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About
Blake Meyers is a Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. He holds a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, earned in 1998, and a Master's degree in Genetics from the same institution. His research focuses on small RNAs, regulation of gene expression, microRNAs and their biogenesis, phased small interfering RNAs, and their roles in crops such as maize, wheat, rice, soybean, and Arabidopsis, as well as other model species. Meyers' work also encompasses plant evolution, reproductive biology with an emphasis on anther development, genomics tools and technologies, and genome informatics. He has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including election to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2022, the Charles Albert Shull Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2017, and election as a Fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2017. Additionally, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Plant Cell and has been involved in advancing plant science through his leadership and research contributions.
Research topics
- Genetics
- Biology
- Botany
- Computational biology
- Evolutionary biology
Selected publications
Diverse plant RNAs coat <i>Arabidopsis</i> leaves and are distinct from apoplastic RNAs
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2025-01-03 · 15 citations
articleOpen accessTransgenic expression of a double-stranded RNA in plants can induce silencing of homologous mRNAs in fungal pathogens. Although such host-induced gene silencing is well documented, the molecular mechanisms by which RNAs can move from the cytoplasm of plant cells across the plasma membrane of both the host cell and fungal cell are poorly understood. Indirect evidence suggests that this RNA transfer may occur at a very early stage of the infection process, prior to breach of the host cell wall, su…
New Phytologist · 2025-03-27 · 11 citations
articleOpen accessFruits undergo a similar ripening process, yet they exhibit a range of differences in color, taste, and shape, both across different species and within the same species. How does this diversity arise? We uncovered a conserved fruit ripening process in lychee fruit in which a NAC transcription factor, LcNAC1, acts as a master regulator. LcNAC1 regulates the expression of two terpene synthase genes, LcTPSa1 and LcTPSa2, which belong to a gene cluster consisting of four TPS genes. LcTPSa1-LcTPSa3 a…
Identification of a cleaved aberrant RNA associated with the initiation of transgene silencing
The Plant Cell · 2025-09-19 · 6 citations
articleThe success of many engineered crop traits depends on the stable expression of transgenes, but their effectiveness is frequently at risk due to transgene silencing. The reason why certain transgenes are targeted by silencing pathways while others remain highly expressed and durable has remained a major question for decades due to the lack of technologies to study the initiation of transgene silencing. We developed 2 technologies to identify the trigger of transgene silencing in Arabidopsis (Arab…
The Plant Journal · 2025-03-01 · 5 citations
articleOpen accessExpansion microscopy (ExM) achieves nanoscale imaging by physical expansion of fixed biological tissues embedded in a swellable hydrogel, enhancing the resolution of any optical microscope several-fold. While ExM is commonly used in animal cells and tissues, there are few plant-specific protocols. Protoplasts are a widely used cell system across plant species, especially in studying biomolecule localization. Here, we present an approach to achieve robust expansion of plant protoplasts, termed Ex…
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2025-07-30 · 4 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingReproductive, male-enriched small RNAs are present in flowering plants and animals, yet their role in plants remains underexplored. We generated dicer-like 5 ( dcl5 ) mutants in durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum ssp. durum 2n = 4× = 28; AABB), revealing temperature-sensitive genic male sterility. Loss of DCL5 depleted premeiotic and meiotic 24-nt phasiRNA production, correlating with sterility under standard growth conditions and partial fertility recovery at higher temperatures. A single function…
Recent grants
Understanding the Rice Epigenome: From Genes to Genomes
NSF · $5.9M · 2007–2013
NSF · $423k · 2016–2018
Deep Transcriptional Profiling of Rice Using Signature Sequencing
NSF · $4.2M · 2003–2008
Frequent coauthors
- 152 shared
Jixian Zhai
Southern University of Science and Technology
- 124 shared
Pamela J. Green
- 86 shared
Kan Nobuta
- 81 shared
Kun Huang
First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University
- 77 shared
Rui Xia
Tsinghua University
- 73 shared
Stacey A. Simon
University of Delaware
- 73 shared
Sandra M. Mathioni
- 72 shared
Siwaret Arikit
Education
- 1998
PhD, Genetics
University of California Davis
- 1995
MS, Genetics
University of California Davis
- 1992
BA, Biology
University of Chicago
Awards & honors
- Elected Member, US National Academy of Sciences (2022)
- University of Missouri Award for Faculty Excellence (2022)
- Editor-in-Chief, The Plant Cell (2020 – 2024)
- Elected Fellow, American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB)…
- Charles Albert Shull Award, American Society of Plant Biolog…
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