Steven van Nocker
vannocke.hrt.msu.edu 517-775-5218
Professional Preparation
1983-1987BS cum laude, Genetics and Development, Cornell University
1987-1993PhD, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (RD Vierstra)
Appointments
2012-Present / Professor, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University (MSU)1998-2012 / Assistant/Associate Professor, MSU
1993-1996 / Postdoc, University of Wisconsin-Madison (RM Amasino, Biochemistry)
1997 / Visiting Scientist, Harvard University Medical School (D Finley)
Research interests
My goal is to identify genetic mechanisms that determine plant form, and to understand how these are regulated to drive development in the appropriate context. Research in my lab focuses on the relationship between the expression of developmentally important genes and structural dynamics of the chromatin that packages these genes. At the most basic level, the machinery that activates and represses genes as development progresses are well conserved among higher multicellular organisms including trees and people, and new insights can have both fundamental value to science and practical value ranging from plant agriculture to human medicine.
Professional activities (past five years)
Participating faculty member, MSU Interdepartmental Graduate Programs in Genetics, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology
Member, MSU BioMolecular Sciences Graduate Admissions Committee
Committee member, ASPB Education Foundation
MSU representative, USDA Regional Project: Database Resources for Crop Genomics,Genetics and Breeding Research
Member, Malus/Apple Crop Germplasm Committee (USDA-ARS)
NE-1336 Working group on postharvest biology of fruit crops
ASPB representative, White House Easter Egg Roll
MSU Gene Expression in Development and Disease working group
Ad-hoc reviewer for Plant Cell, BMC Genomics, Plant Journal, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, Plant Cell Physiol, Plant Physiol, J Amer Soc Hort Sci, HortScience, Protein Science, Plant Molec Biol, others
Panelist for NSF Plant, Fungal, and Microbial Development, NSF Mechanisms of Gene Expression, Korea World-Class University Program
Ad hoc grant proposal reviewer for NSF Plant Genome, NSF Biochemistry of Gene Expression, Plant, Fungal, and Microbial Development, Citrus Research and Development
van Nocker, Steve
Foundation, Saudi Ministry of higher Education, New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, others
Teaching, Education and Outreach Activities
Instructor of graduate-level course, Plant Growth and Development, focusing on the genetic, molecular and biochemical mechanisms influencing development in higher plants; patterning, cellular organization, formation of tissues and organs, mechanisms underlying developmental diversity, and biosynthesis, regulation and activity of phytohormones
Led or co-led graduate-level seminar courses on such topics as Epigenetics, Plant Development, Flowering, Next-Generation Genetics, and New Molecular Techniques in Plant Breeding
Instructed numerous students in formal special topics courses, including FruitDevelopment and Flowering, and formalized independent study courses emphasizingcreative activities
Participated in or led other courses including PLB856 (Plant Molecular Biology) and NSC840 (Writing in the Sciences, a small-group writing workshop to help graduate students develop scientific writing skills)
Organized or co-organized three symposiums at MSU in plant or human genetics
Organized SCIENCEPALOOZA!!, a local middle-school science slam
Frequent research presentations to the Michigan Apple Committee, a group of apple industry leaders
Mentoring and Training Activities
Founder and Director, COHoRT (College-High School Research Teams), a program that supports collaborative training and research between Lansing, MI inner-city high school students and MSU undergraduates with similar backgrounds
Regular host of high school students through the MSU Multicultural Apprenticeship Program (MAP) and the High School Honors Science Program (HSHSP). These are six to eight-week pre-college summer research programs that seek to give high school students the opportunity to explore career opportunities in biology.
Regular participant in MSU SROP (Summer Research Opportunities Program), an effort to recruit undergraduates from underrepresented groups nation-wide to MSU graduate programs.
Coordinator, MSU-College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Undergraduate Research Program, 2009-2012. This Program now arranges and supports research collaborations among the ~3500 students and faculty in the College.
Publications (past ten years)
Aguiar B, Vieira J, Cunha AE, Fonseca NA, Iezzoni A, van Nocker S, Vieira CP. 2015. Convergent evolution at the gametophytic self incompatibility system in Malus and Prunus. PLoS One, in press.
van Nocker, Steve
van Nocker S and Gardiner SE. 2014. Breeding better cultivars, faster: applications of new technologies for the rapid deployment of superior horticultural tree crops. Review. Horticulture Research, in press. (Horticulture Research is a new journal from Nature Publishing Group).
Alkio M, Jonas U, Declercq M, van Nocker S and Knoche M. 2014. Transcriptional dynamics of the developing sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) fruit: sequencing, annotation and expression profiling of exocarp-associated genes. Horticulture Research 1-11
Gottschalk C and van Nocker S. 2013. Diversity in seasonal bloom time and floral development among apple (Malus) species and hybrids. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 138, 367-374
Park S, Oh S and van Nocker S. 2012. Genomics and gene-level distribution of histone H3 dimethyl lysine-27 (H3K27me2) in Arabidopsis. PLoS One 7(12):e52855
van Nocker S, Berry G, Najdowski J, Michelutti R, Luffman M, Forsline P, Smerirat N, Beaudry R, Nair M, Ordidge M. 2012. Genetic diversity of red-fleshed apples (Malus). Euphytica 185, 281-293
Alkio M, Jonas U, Sprink T, van Nocker S and Knoche M. 2012. Identification of putative candidate genes involved in cuticle formation in sweet cherry fruit. Annal Bot 110, 101-112
Park S, Ek-Ramos J, Oh S and van Nocker S. 2011. Potential role of Arabidopsis PHP as an accessory subunit of the PAF1 transcriptional cofactor. Plant Signaling and Behavior 6:8, 1-3
Liu Y, Geyer R, van Zanten M, Carles A, Li Y, Hoerold A, van Nocker S, and Soppe WJJ. 2011. Identification of the Arabidopsis REDUCED DORMANCY 2 gene uncovers a role for the Polymerase Associated Factor 1 complex in seed dormancy. PLoS ONE 6(7):e22241.
Park S, Oh S, Ek-Ramos J and van Nocker S. 2010. PLANT HOMOLOGOUS TO PARAFIBROMIN is a Component of PAF1C and Assists in Regulating Expression of Genes within H3K27me3-Enriched Chromatin. Plant Physiol 153, 821-831
Sun L and van Nocker S. 2010. Analysis of promoter activity of members of the PECTATE LYASE-LIKE (PLL) gene family in cell separation in Arabidopsis. BMC Plant Biology 10:152
Mookerjee S and van Nocker S. 2010. Genetics of flowering in apple. In Genomics of fruits and vegetable crops: Apples. Ed. Aldwinckle HS and Malnoy M. Science Publishers, Enfield NH.
van Nocker S. 2009. Development of the abscission zone. Stewart Postharvest Review 5,1-5 Sun L, Bukovac MJ, Forsline PL and van Nocker S. 2009. Natural variation in fruit abscission-
related traits in apple (Malus). Euphytica 165, 55-67
Oh S, Park S and van Nocker S. 2008. Genic and global functions for Paf1C in chromatin modification and gene expression in Arabidopsis. PLoS Genet 4(8): e1000077
van Nocker S and Ek-Ramos J. 2007. Control of flowering time. In Regulation of transcription in plants, Grasser KD Ed. Plant Reviews (Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.)
Mulabagal V, van Nocker S, Dewitt D and Nair M. 2007. Cultivars of apple fruits that are not marketed with potential for anthocyanin production. J Agric Food Chem 55, 8165-8169 Park S, Sugimoto N, Larson MD, Beaudry R and van Nocker S. 2006. Identification of genes
with potential roles in apple fruit development and biochemistry through large-scale statistical analysis of expressed sequence tags. Plant Physiol 141, 811-824
Oh S, Zhang H, Ludwig P and van Nocker S. 2004. A mechanism related to the yeast transcriptional regulator Paf1C is required for expression of the Arabidopsis FLC/MAF MADS-box gene family. Plant Cell 16, 2940-2953
van Nocker, Steve
van Nocker S. 2003. CAF-1 and MSI1-related proteins: Linking nucleosome assembly with epigenetics. Trends Plant Sci 8, 471-473
van Nocker S and Ludwig P. 2003. The WD-repeat protein superfamily in Arabidopsis: conservation and divergence in structure and function. BMC Genomics 4, 50
Yoo SD, Gao Z, Cantini C, Loescher WH and van Nocker S. 2003. Fruit ripening in sour cherry (P. cerasus L.): Changes in expression of genes encoding expansins and other cell-wall-modifying enzymes. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 128, 16-22
Zhang H, Ransom C, Ludwig P and van Nocker S. 2003. Genetic analysis of early-flowering mutants in Arabidopsis defines a class of pleiotropic developmental regulator required for activity of the flowering-time switch FLC. Genetics 164, 347-358
Gao Z, Maurousset L, Lemoine R, Yoo SD, van Nocker S and Loescher W. 2003 Cloning, expression, and characterization of sorbitol transporters from developing sour cherry fruit and leaf sink tissues. Plant Physiol 131, 1566-1575
van Nocker, Steve