Mike Scanlon
Professor, School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Biology Section
My research focuses on mechanisms of plant development and the evolution of plant morphology using comparative developmental genetics and functional genomics. I am especially interested how meristems make leaves and embryos make meristems. Our lab exploits forward and reverse genetic mutants of maize, Brachypodium, Arabidopsis, and other plants as the foundation for comparative analyses of fundamental processes in plant development.
I earned my Ph. D in Genetics in 1993 from Iowa State University, and was an NSF postdoctoral fellow at University of California-Berkeley from 1993 to 1997. I joined the faculty of the Plant Biology Department of the University of Georgia in September 1997, and moved my lab to the Department of Plant Biology (now the Plant Biology Section of the School of Integrated Plant Science) at Cornell University in January 2006.
Interests
Mechanisms of meristem and leaf development
Evolution of plant morphology
Maize, Brachypodium, Arabidopsis, and Physcomitrium
Recent Research
Recent projects in our lab include:
- Wrapper-Tucker Patterning in Grass Leaves
- Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analyses of Shoot Meristem Ontogeny and Function
- Ligule & Auricle Development in the Proximal-Distal Axis of the Maize Leaf
- Comparative Analyses of WOX3 and LG1 Function During Grass Shoot Development
- Genome-wide Dissection of Leaf Angle Variation Across the Canopy in Maize
Visit the Scanlon Lab website for more information.
Selected Journal Publications
Google Scholar profile and publications.
(* Denotes undergraduate authors)
2024
- M Lin, H Bacher, R Bourgault, P Qiao, S Matschi, MF Vasquez, M Mohammadi, S van Boerdonk, MJ Scanlon, LG Smith, IMolina, MA Gore. 2024. Integrative multi-omic analysis identifies genes associated with cuticular wax biogenesis in adult leaves. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae241
- Ragas, Richie Eve G. and Scanlon, Michael J. 2024. Plant development: The role of SPL9 in age-dependent sculpting of leaf shape. Current Biology 34: R891 – R893 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982224011436
- Wu, H Zhang, R, Niklas, KJ, Scanlon, MJ 2024a. Multiplexed transcriptomic analyses of the plant embryonic hourglass. bioRxiv 2024.04.04.588207; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.04.588207
- Wu, H., Zhang, R., and Scanlon, M.J. 2024b. Genetic analyses of embryo homology and ontogeny in maize. New Phytologist 243:1610-1619. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19922
2023
- Cammarata, J., Roeder, A.H.K., Scanlon, M.J. The ratio of auxin to cytokinin controls leaf development and meristem initiation in Physcomitrium patens. J. Exp. Bot. Jul 27:erad299. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad299.
- Satterlee, J.W., Evans, L., Conlon, B.R., Conklin, P.A., Martínez-Gómez, J., *Yen, J., Wu, H., Sylvester, A.W., Specht, C.D., Cheng, J., Johnston, R., Coen, E., Scanlon, M.J. 2023. A WOX3-patterning module organizes planar growth in grass leaves and ligules. Nature Plants 9: 720-732. DOI: 10.1038/s41477-023-01405-0.
- Satterlee, J.W., Scanlon, M.J. 2022. Protoplast Isolation from Undifferentiated Maize Seedling Shoot Tissue. In: Wang, K., Zhang, F. (eds) Protoplast Technology. Methods in Molecular Biology, 2464:123-130. Humana, New York, NY.
2022
- Kong, Wen Qian; Nabukalu, Pheonah; Cox, T; Johnston, Robyn; Scanlon, Michael J.; Robertson, Jon; Goff, Valorie; Pierce, Gary; Lemke, Cornelia; Compton, Rosana; Reeves, Jaxk; Paterson, Andrew 2022. Unraveling the Genetic Components of Perenniality Toward Breeding for Perennial Grains. Plant, People, Planet, pp1-15, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10253
- Meng Lin, Pengfei Qiao, Susanne Matschi, Miguel Vasquez, Guillaume P Ramstein, Richard Bourgault, Marc Mohammadi, Michael J Scanlon, Isabel Molina, Laurie G Smith, Michael A Gore. 2022. Integration of GWAS and TWAS to elucidate the genetic architecture of natural variation for leaf cuticular conductance in maize. Plant Physiology 189: 2144-2158. 10.1093/plphys/kiac198
- Yuguo Xiao, Jinyan Guo, Zhaobin Dong, Annis Richardson, Erin Patterson, Sidney Mangrum, Seth Bybee, Edoardo Bertolini, Madelaine Bartlett, George Chuck, Andrea L Eveland, Michael J Scanlon, Clinton Whipple. 2022 Boundary domain genes were recruited to suppress bract growth and promote branching in maize SCIENCE ADVANCES 8: DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm6835
- J Cammarata, CM Farfan, MJ Scanlon, AHK Roeder 2022. Cytokinin-CLAVATA crosstalk is an ancient mechanism regulating shoot meristem homeostasis in land plants. P.N.A.S. 119 e2116860119 | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116860119
2021
- *Richardson, A. E., Cheng, J., Johnston, R., Kennaway, R., Rebocho, A. B., *Scanlon, M. J., Hake, S., and *Coen, E. 2021. Evolution of the grass leaf by primordium extension and petiole-lamina remodeling. SCIENCE 374:1377-1380. (*corresponding authors)
- Leiboff, S., Strable, J., Johnston, R., Federici, S., Sylvester, A., Scanlon, M. J. 2021. Network Analyses Identify a Transcriptomic Proximodistal Pre-Pattern in the Maize Leaf Primordium. New Phytologist 230: 218-227. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17132.
2020
- J Strable, JR Yen, MJ Scanlon, AW Sylvester. 2020. Toluidine Blue O Staining of Paraffin-Sectioned Maize Tissue. Bio-protocol, e3612-e3612
- Satterlee, J.W., Strable, J., Scanlon, M. J. 2020. Plant stem cell organization and differentiation at single-cell resolution. P. N. A. S. 117:33689-33699. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2018788117.
- Conklin, P.A., Johnston, R., Conlon, B. R., Shimizu, R., Scanlon, M. J. 2020. Plant homeodomain proteins provide a mechanism for how leaves grow wide. Development 147: dev193623.doi: 10.1242/dev.193623.
- Pengfei Qiao, Richard Bourgault, Marc Mohammadi, Michael A. Gore, Isabel Molina, and Michael J. Scanlon. 2020. A maize LIPID TRANSFER PROTEIN may bridge the gap between PHYTOCHROME-mediated light signaling and cuticle biosynthesis. 2020. Plant Signaling & Behavior 15:1790824. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2020.1790824.Epub 2020 Jul 7.
- Yu, X., S. Leiboff, X. Li, T. Guo, N. Ronning, X. Zhang, G.J. Muehlbauer, M.C.P. Timmermans, P.S. Schnable, M.J. Scanlon, and J. Yu. 2020. Genomic prediction of maize micro-phenotypes provides insights for optimizing selection and mining diversity. Plant Biotechnology Journal.
- Andrew H Paterson, Wenqian Kong, Robyn M Johnston, Pheonah Nabukalu, Guohong Wu, William L Poehlman, Valorie H Goff, Krista Isaacs, Tae-Ho Lee, Hui Guo, Dong Zhang, Uzay U Sezen, Megan Kennedy, Diane Bauer, Frank Alex Feltus, Eva Weltzien, Henry Rattunde, JACOB BARNEY, Kerrie Barry, T Stan Cox, Michael J. Scanlon. 2020. The evolution of an invasive plant, Sorghum halepense L. (‘Johnsongrass’). Front. Genet.
- Pengfei Qiao, Richard Bourgault, Marc Mohammadi, Glenn Philippe, Susanne Matschi, Laurie G. Smith, Michael A. Gore, Isabel Molina, Michael J. Scanlon. 2020. Transcriptomic network analyses shed light on the regulation of cuticle development in maize leaves. P.N.A.S. 117: 12464-12471.
- Cammarata, Joseph and Scanlon, Michael J. 2020. A Functionally Informed Evolutionary Framework for the Study of LRR-RLKs during Stem Cell Maintenance. J. Plant Research. 133: 331-342.
- Meng Lin, Susanne Matschi, Miguel Vasquez, James Chamness, Nicholas Kaczmar, Matheus Baseggio, Michael Miller, Ethan L. Stewart, Pengfei Qiao, Michael J. Scanlon, Isabel Molina, Laurie G. Smith, and Michael A. Gore. 2020. Genome-wide association study for maize leaf cuticular conductance identifies candidate genes involved in the regulation of cuticle development. G3: GENES, GENOMES, GENETICS 10:1671 1683.
- Richard Bourgault, Susanne Matschi, Miguel Vasquez, Pengfei Qiao, Annika Sonntag, Caleb Charlebois, Marc Mohammadi, Michael J Scanlon, Laurie G Smith, Isabel Molina. 2020. Constructing functional cuticles: analysis of relationships between cuticle lipid composition, ultrastructure and water barrier function in developing adult maize leaves, Annals of Botany 125: 79–91.
Courses Taught
- PLSCI 4220/6220: Comparative Plant Development: Evo-Devo
- PLSCI 2490: Hollywood Biology: Science in Cinema
- PLSCI 6410: Laboratory in Plant Biology
- PLSCI 6440: Digital Plant Science: Frontiers and Challenges
Contact Information
217 Plant Science Building
Ithaca, NY 14853
mjs298 [at] cornell.edu
More information
Graduate Fields
- Genetics and Development
- Plant Biology
Education
- Doctorate
Iowa State University
1993
- Bachelor of Science
Western Connecticut State University
1986
- Genetics and Development
Mike in the news
News
Faculty and staff from across Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Cornell CALS) came together on March 4 to honor 30 awardees at the inaugural CALS Faculty and Staff Awards, held in the Statler Ballroom.
News
A Cornell research team led by Michael Scanlon, professor of plant biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Integrative Plant Science, recently reported new insights into the patterns of gene expression in maize stem...
- School of Integrative Plant Science
- Plant Biology Section
- Agriculture