Research

C. Robin Buell joined the Department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University in October 2007 after spending nine years at The Institute for Genomic Research. The research activities in the Buell Laboratory are centered on genome biology of plants. Our research involves projects focused on high throughput sequencing, functional genomics, comparative genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology. We work on a number of crop species for food, feed, fodder, and biofuels (rice, maize, switchgrass, potato, sweetpotato) as well as medicinal plants (Madigascar periwinkle, Camptotheca acuminata). We have projects in the lab examining genetic diversity in maize and switchgrass, abiotic stress responses in switchgrass, genome variation in potato, genomics in sweetpotato, and biochemical pathway elucidation in medicinal plants. My lab also maintains large-scale databases and resources for the scientific community such as the Rice Annotation Database, the Comprehensive Phytopathogen Genome Resource, and Spud DB: Potato Genomics Research. See our Research Page for more information on these projects.

We are always interested in having new students (undergraduate and graduate) join the lab. See the Buell Lab Website for more information on research, publications, and job opportunities