Allan Downie

Department of Horticulture
Associate Professor


Contact Information: link to primary page: http://www.uky.edu/hort/people/bruce-downie

Sub-page: http://www.uky.edu/hort/LEAPin_overview

Research theme: Seed Biology

•  Natural protection and Repair mechanism    •  Seed germination  •  Seed dormancy

International Experience:

  • MSc Silviculture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (3 years)
  • Ph.D. University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada (3 years)
  • Short term scholar University of Wageningen, The Netherlands (4 months)
  • Sabbatical, CSIRO Canberra, Australia, (1 year)

Recent Awards:

  • Indian National Science Academy, Benjamin Peary Pal Chair, 2016-17

Scientific Collaborations:

  • Prof. Tianyong Zhao, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling, CHINA. Elucidating how the raffinose family oligosaccharides protect sub-cellular components during seed maturation desiccation.
  • Prof. Roberval Daiton Vieira, Department of Crop Production, UNESP (São Paulo State University), Jaboticabal, BRAZIL. Prof. Sandra Helena Unêda Trevisoli, Department of Vegetable Production, UNESP (São Paulo State University), Jaboticabal, BRAZIL. and Prof. Maria Laene M. de Carvalho, Federal University of Lavras, (UFLA - Universidade Federal de Lavras), Lavras, BRAZIL. Elucidating how the Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) Proteins protect sub-cellular client proteins during seed maturation desiccation.
  • Drs. Manoj Majee and Susmita Majee, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, INDIA. Protein Isoaspartyl Methyltransferase repair of aberrant isoaspartyl residues in the seed stored proteome following imbibition.
  • Dr. Nasheeman Asraf, Plant Biotechnology, CSIR - Division, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Srinagar, INDIA. Identification of the BROWNSEED1 gene in tomato through bulked segregant RNA Seq.
  • Prof. Pratap Kumar Pati, Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, INDIA. Polyadenylation of seed stored mRNA.
  • Prof. Rup Kumar Kar, Department of Botany, Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, INDIA. Activation tagged Arabidopsis seeds hastening low temperature germination.
  • Prof. Sudip Chattopadhyay, Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology-Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal, INDIA. Photoblastic seed germination.

Recent seminars: 2015: September 17th, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling, China. Dark testa mutants of tomato. Walking to brownseed1. 2014: September 10th, Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Brazil. Department of Agriculture. Seminar: Light influence on seed germination and dormancy in dicots. September 8th. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Jaboticabal, Brazil. Department of vegetable production. Short course on seed biology. Part I: Light influence on seed germination and dormancy in dicots. Part II:  Light influence on seed germination and dormancy in monocots. 2014: April 16th. College of Life Sciences, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling, China. KILL PIL: An F-BOX PROTEIN targeting PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 1 (PIF1 a.k.a. PIL5) and PIF3 for poly-ubiquitination and destruction.April 23rd. College of Life Sciences, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling, China. Graduate studies in Science in the USA. April 24th. College of Life Sciences, Northwest University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling, China. Plant Physiology Lecture: Seed Biology. April 25th. College of Biological Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China. Protection and repair of the proteome during seed quiescence and upon imbibition.April 27th. College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. Functional analysis of light inhibition of germination in dormant barley grains.