Wendy Peer

About

Dr. Wendy A. Peer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science & Technology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on the application of biochemistry, genetics, live cell imaging, phenology, and physiology to address hypothesis-driven questions in plant growth and development. She investigates the roles of plant specialized compounds, including flavonoids and hormones, as well as other plant growth regulators, in plant developmental processes and responses to environmental stimuli. Her work includes the regulation of auxin homeostasis, functions of metal-center proteins, and the development of resistance in potato to thaxtomin. Dr. Peer’s laboratory employs a variety of techniques to explore plant physiology, with current projects examining plant growth regulators, invasiveness, metal-center proteins, flavonoid functions, and plant-microbe interactions. She has contributed to understanding how plant compounds influence development and environmental responses, advancing knowledge in plant biochemistry and physiology.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Botany
• Biochemistry
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Cell biology
• Pharmacology
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Auxin regulates adventitious root formation in tomato cuttings

  BMC Plant Biology · 2019-10-21 · 164 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Adventitious root (AR) formation is a critical developmental process in cutting propagation for the horticultural industry. While auxin has been shown to regulate this process, the exact mechanism and details preceding AR formation remain unclear. Even though AR and lateral root (LR) formation share common developmental processes, there are exist some differences that need to be closely examined at the cytological level. Tomato stem cuttings, which readily form adventitious roots, re…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Auxin homeostasis: the DAO of catabolism

  Journal of Experimental Botany · 2017-06-01 · 111 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Nearly all programmed and plastic plant growth responses are at least partially regulated by auxins, such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Although vectorial, long distance auxin transport is essential to its regulatory function, all auxin responses are ultimately localized in individual target cells. As a consequence, cellular auxin concentrations are tightly regulated via coordinated biosynthesis, transport, conjugation, and oxidation. The primary auxin oxidative product across species is 2-oxin…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Seasonal nitrogen remobilization and the role of auxin transport in poplar trees

  Journal of Experimental Botany · 2020 · 22 citations

  Seasonal nitrogen (N) cycling in Populus, involves bark storage proteins (BSPs) that accumulate in bark phloem parenchyma in the autumn and decline when shoot growth resumes in the spring. Little is known about the contribution of BSPs to growth or the signals regulating N remobilization from BSPs. Knockdown of BSP accumulation via RNAi and N sink manipulations were used to understand how BSP storage influences shoot growth. Reduced accumulation of BSPs delayed bud break and reduced shoot growth…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Phosphate Status Affects Phosphate Transporter Expression and Glyphosate Uptake and Transport in Grand Eucalyptus (<i>Eucalyptus grandis</i>)

  Weed Science · 2018-10-03 · 21 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Soluble phosphate availability is a major limiting factor for plant growth, development, and yield. To assure a constant phosphorous supply, plants employ both high- and low-affinity phosphate acquisition mechanisms. Glyphosate is an herbicide widely used throughout the world, and previous studies have suggested that it can be transported across the plasma membrane via phosphate transporters in herbaceous species. The effects of phosphate status on glyphosate uptake were investigated in…

  PublisherDOI

• Directed plant cell-wall accumulation of iron: embedding co-catalyst for efficient biomass conversion

  Biotechnology for Biofuels · 2016-10-21 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  Plant lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant, renewable feedstock for the production of biobased fuels and chemicals. Previously, we showed that iron can act as a co-catalyst to improve the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass. However, directly adding iron catalysts into biomass prior to pretreatment is diffusion limited, and increases the cost of biorefinery operations. Recently, we developed a new strategy for expressing iron-storage protein ferritin intracellularly to accumulate iron as…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Angus S. Murphy

  127 shared

• Joshua J. Blakeslee

  50 shared

• Anindita Bandyopadhyay

  Washington University in St. Louis

  38 shared

• Haibing Yang

  Nanjing Medical University

  31 shared

• Elizabeth L. Richards

  Cardiff University

  29 shared

• Boosaree Titapiwatanakun

  20 shared

• Lincoln Taiz

  19 shared

• Roberto A. Gaxiola

  Arizona State University

  19 shared

Labs

• Physiology and Genetics LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Biology

  University of California Santa Cruz

• B.S. (honors), Biology

  California State University Bakersfield

• B.S. (honors), Chemistry

  California State University Bakersfield

Awards & honors

• Excellence in Extension Award
• Excellence in Instruction Award
• Excellence in Research Award

Similar researchers at University of Maryland, College Park

• Andy Baldwinh-31
• Frank Coaleh-26
• Mitchell Pavao-Zuckermanh-26