Overview

Tim Setter is Professor of Crop Science in the Department of Crop and Soil Science, with joint membership in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics. He currently collaborates with researchers at CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, on studies of drought tolerance of maize, and with researchers at CIAT, The International Center for Tropical Agriculture, and Embrapa CNPMF, the Brazilian center for cassava research, on studies of drought tolerance of cassava. He is a member of the Cornell Graduate Faculties in the Field of Crop and Soil Sciences and in Plant Biology.

Research Focus

The goals of my research are to further our understanding of plant response to environmental stresses such as drought and to global climate change issues such as elevated temperature and atmospheric CO2, to identify potential targets for future crop improvement, and to identify genes responsible for desirable stress tolerance traits. Our research has indicated that sink organ development during cell division and primordial phases is especially responsive to environment, so we are determining the mechanisms by which environmental stresses arrest sink-organ development (especially reproductive organs and kernels), alter phytohormone and carbohydrate levels and modify the expression of gene products involved in cell proliferation. All of our studies deal with plant responses to environmental conditions, especially water deficit, temperature extremes, and elevated atmospheric CO2. Studies on maize reproductive development concern the influence of water deficit on abscisic acid and cytokinin levels, on sugar fluxes in grain tissues, and regulatory proteins. We use DNA microarrays to profile gene expression, collaborate on mapping genetic loci, and use a functional genomics approach to identify the roles that changes in these regulatory factors play in altering the expression of genes associated with stress response.

Instruction Focus

I teach courses on the physiology and ecology of crop yield (CSS 613), water status assessment techniques (CSS 608), and the biology of responses to environmental stresses (CSS 610).

Additional Links

• Plant Breeding and Genetics Faculty Page
• Setter Lab
• Link to CALS Research portal
• Link to CALS Impact statements

Selected Publications

• Setter, T.L. and Fregene, M.A. (2007) Recent advances in molecular breeding of cassava for improved drought tolerance. In: Jenks, M.A., Hasegawa, P.M., Jain, S.M. (eds), Advances in Molecular-Breeding Toward Drought and Salt Tolerant Crops. Springer, New York
• Setter, T.L. 2006. Identifying genes and their functions for drought tolerance of maize at early kernel development. Symposium, Crop Stress Physiology, the Linkage Between Genes and Functions. 60-5; http://crops.confex.com/crops/2006am/techprogram/P20659.HTM, ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2006 International Meeting, 12-16 November, 2006, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
• Setter T.L. (2006) The role of abscisic acid under water-limited conditions. Chapter 15, pp.505-530. In: J.M. Ribaut (ed) Drought Adaptation in Cereals, Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York
• Melkonian J., Yu L.-X., Setter T.L. (2004) Chilling responses of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings: root hydraulic conductance, abscisic acid, and stomatal conductance. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 1751-1760. web access: http://jxb.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/403/1751
• Alves A.A.C., Setter T.L. (2004) The Response of cassava leaf area expansion to water deficit. Cell proliferation, cell expansion, and delayed development. Annals of Botany 94:605-613. web access: http://aob.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/4/605/
• Yu L.X., Setter T.L. (2003) Comparative transcriptional profiling of placenta and endosperm in developing maize kernels in response to water deficit. Plant Physiology 131: 568-582 (note correction for Table I due to printer`s error) web access to corrected copy: http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/tls1/pp.014365v1.pdf
• Chen C.-T., Setter T.L. (2003) Response of potato tuber cell division and growth to shade and elevated CO2. Annals of Botany 91: 373-381
• Wang Z., Mambelli S., Setter T.L. (2002) Abscisic acid catabolism in maize kernels in response to water deficit at early endosperm development. Annals of Botany 90: 623-630.
• Setter T.L., Flannigan B.A., Melkonian J. (2001) Loss of kernel set due to water deficit and shade in maize: Carbohydrate supplies, abscisic acid, and cytokinins. Crop Science 41: 1530-1540.web access: http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/41/5/1530
• Setter T.L., Flannigan B.A. (2001) Water deficit inhibits cell division and expression of transcripts involved in cell proliferation and endoreduplication in maize endosperm. Journal of Experimental Botany 52(360): 1401-1408

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