Plant and Microbial Biosciences
Graduate Student Coordinator: Shonda Dukes
GRE is optional for this program
The Graduate Program in Plant and Microbial Biosciences focuses on the use of prokaryotes, eukaryotic microbes, mosses and vascular plants as experimental organisms. Washington University’s highly integrated graduate program and diverse faculty provide an ideal environment in which to address fundamental and applied biological problems. PMB is fully integrated with the eleven other graduate programs that comprise the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences and collaboration is the norm rather than the exception at Washington University. In particular, faculty in PMB maintain close ties with programs in Molecular Microbiology and Pathogenesis, Genetics and Genomics, Biochemistry, and Molecular Cell Biology.
Research in PMB covers a diverse array of topics including:
Interactions between plants, microbes, and their environment
Assembly and regulation of membrane-associated complexes
Cytoskeletal organization and regulation
Cell morphology and cell division
Structural biology and biochemistry
Cell and organelle size
Metabolic engineering of natural products, biomaterials, and biofuels
Microbial ecology and evolution
Biogeochemical cycles and earth history
Astrobiology
The Department of Biology addresses a wide range of biological questions, across and between the sub-disciplines of biology: from single molecules to systems, and from steady state equilibria to dynamic remodeling over milliseconds to millions of generations. The department also maintains a web site dedicated to The Graduate Training Program in Plant and Microbial Biosciences.
