David Stern
Professor
David Stern
ds28@cornell.edu
Office/Lab:
120/213
Phone:
607-254-1300
Email: ds28@cornell.edu
Office/Lab:133/120
Affiliations: Section of Plant Biology / School of Integrative Plant Science / Cornell University
Graduate Fields: Plant Biology
Research Areas: Stress Responses / Cell Biology
The Stern laboratory focuses on photosynthetic carbon assimilation and gene expression mechanisms in the chloroplast, where photosynthesis takes place. We use molecular genetic techniques to test hypotheses for increasing plant performance and photosynthetic efficiency by creating and analyzing transgenic plants. Our gene expression work focuses on a key ribonuclease, RNase J, which exerts quality control over the transcript population of the chloroplast, and is itself essential for plant embryo development and viability.
Jane Silverthorne, a giant of plant science
Dr. Jane Silverthorne, Chair of BTI’s Scientific Advisory Board and member of its Board of Directors, died unexpectedly on August 15, 2022. Jane’s rich biography and programmatic contributions have been […] Read more »
BTI Welcomes Summer Student Interns
On May 31, Boyce Thompson Institute welcomed 41 of the country’s brightest undergraduate students from universities around the country to experience the life of a researcher for 10 weeks. Ten […] Read more »
David Stern to Step Down as BTI President
After leading the Boyce Thompson Institute for 17 years, David Stern has decided to step down as president. He will retain the role during the search for his successor, and […] Read more »
Plant Science Research Network Releases Decadal Vision 2020-2030
Plant science research has tremendous potential to address pressing global issues including climate change, food insecurity and sustainability. However, without sustained investment in plant science, the necessary research to generate […] Read more »
Speedy Recovery: New Corn Performs Better in Cold
Nearly everyone on Earth is familiar with corn. Literally. Around the world, each person eats an average of 70 pounds of the grain each year, with even more grown for […] Read more »
Cluster Hire Yields Three New Faculty Members
Boyce Thompson Institute is pleased to announce the hiring of three faculty members as part of its new and innovative “cluster hire” approach. Out of 113 applicants, the three people […] Read more »
BTI’s Big Red Anniversary: 40 Years at Cornell
The Boyce Thompson Institute of Corvallis, Oregon? It almost happened. April 24 will mark the 40th anniversary of the dedication ceremony for BTI’s current facilities on the Cornell University campus […] Read more »
Boyce Thompson Institute leadership provides scholarships to students pursuing degrees in STEM
The Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) is honored to announce the awarding of four, $1,000 scholarships to first-generation college students from Groton, Ithaca, Lansing and Newfield. One student from each school […] Read more »
Bioreactors on a chip renew promises for algal biofuels
This week, researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute and Texas A&M University report in Plant Direct exciting new technology that may revolutionize the search for the perfect algal strain: Algal droplet bioreactors on a chip. Read more »
President David Stern: People Behind the Science Interview
Tune in to BTI's David Stern on People Behind the Science: Growing Our Understanding of Photosynthesis to Improve Plant Metabolism Read more »
Novel “Repair System” Discovered in Algae May Yield New Tools for Biotechnology
In a new paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Stephen Campbell and David Stern show that chloroplast extracts from C. reinhardtii can cut an interrupting insertion from a protein, but only in the light. Read more »
BTI Receives Grant to Support Development of Cold-Tolerant Corn
Researchers in the Stern laboratory will investigate potential benefits of "high-Rubisco" corn plants, under a new USDA-funded project. Read more »
Hartz Plans to Keep BTI and Ithaca Sustainable
Hartz serves on the BTI Board of Directors where he advises and oversees the financial and administrative aspects of BTI. He also acts informally as an Ithaca representative, maintaining the strong connection between BTI and the local community. Read more »
Plant Science Research Network Launches
To promote innovative research and collaboration, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and the American Society of Plant Biologists are pleased to announce the formation of the Plant Science Research Network. Read more »
Teachers Share Strategies for Inspiring Tomorrow’s STEM Researchers
Science teachers planted switchgrass seeds, sampled algae-glycerin soap, and participated in roleplaying activities at the Bioenergy and Bioproducts Education Program’s National STEM conference last week in Horseheads, N.Y. Read more »
The Perks of Being a Mentor
Summer internships at BTI let students try on the life of a scientist for a few months, while attending a variety of talks, trainings and social events. But what’s in it for the mentors, who painstakingly train them? Read more »
BTI Hosts Flash Science! Speaking Competition
BTI Professor Emeritus Robert Kohut initiates competition at BTI to give early-career scientists an opportunity to communicate with the general public and practice their “elevator speech.” Read more »
Stern Visits Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Chandler Gilbert Community College
BTI President and CEO David Stern visited Arizona April 14-16 to attend the Boyce Thompson Arboretum board meeting and to speak about algae-derived bioproducts and his own algal biofuel research, at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Read more »
RNase III Discovered to Function in Plant Chloroplasts
Research Associate Amber Hotto and colleagues, working in the laboratory of BTI President David Stern, have characterized the first RNase III enzymes that function within chloroplasts. Read more »
President Stern Promotes Funding for Plant Research in DC
BTI President David Stern traveled to Washington D.C. last week to advocate for increased federal support for plant research for the 2016 fiscal year; Unleashing a Decade of Innovation in Plant Science. Read more »
BTI Teachers Present at Emerging Researchers National Conference
Two attendees of BTI's summer teacher workshops travelled to the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM to present an algal photobioreactor laboratory, designed in BTI labs, for community college and middle school science students. Read more »
BTI Professors Present to Bill Gates
BTI professors David Stern, Zhangjun Fei, and Lukas Mueller were able to brief Bill Gates and his team on their Gates funded projects and issues of biotechnology and plant science while he was at Cornell on October 1, 2014. Read more »
BTI Postdocs Teach Bio 101 at BTI
BTI collaborates with Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) to host Biology 101. The relationship is symbiotic, and BTI postdocs gain valuable teaching experience. Read more »
Postgraduates Hosted Annual BTI Symposium, September 25, 2014
Speakers will include Dr. Frank Schroeder, postdocs Daniela Floss and Patricia Manosalva, Dr. Robert Granados and Dr. Maureen Hanson (from Cornell), and discussion of postgraduate training and education with Dr. David Stern and Dr. Eric Richards. Read more »
Joshua Judkins, BTI and Beyond
Joshua Judkins arrived at BTI as an intern in 2008 and left as a PhD in 2014...for a post doc position with Pfizer in neuroscience. Read more »
Gene to Bean to Global Scene
BTI invited public to learn more about BTI's role in recent sequencing of coffee genome, plus presentations by other Cornell researchers from diverse fields who study coffee. Read more »
Intern Projects
The Stern laboratory focuses on photosynthetic carbon assimilation and gene expression mechanisms in the chloroplast, where photosynthesis takes place. We use molecular genetic techniques to test hypotheses for increasing plant performance and photosynthetic efficiency by creating and analyzing transgenic plants. Our gene expression work focuses on a key ribonuclease, RNase J, which exerts quality control over the transcript population of the chloroplast, and is itself essential for plant embryo development and viability.Internship Program | Projects & Faculty | Apply for an Internship
Removing systemic barriers to equity, diversity, and inclusion: Report of the 2019 Plant Science Research Network workshop “Inclusivity in the Plant Sciences”
2022.
Plant Direct.
6
:
Rubisco production in maize mesophyll cells through ectopic expression of subunits and chaperones
2021.
J Exp Bot..
:
CFM1, a Member of the CRM-domain Protein Family, Functions in Chloroplast Group II Intron Splicing in Setaria viridis
2020.
:
Plant science decadal vision 2020-2030: Reimagining the potential of plants for a healthy and sustainable future
2020.
Plant Direct..
4
:
Setaria viridis chlorotic and seedling-lethal mutants define critical functions for chloroplast gene expression
2020.
Plant J..
:
Systematic Sequencing of Chloroplast Transcript Termini From Arabidopsis Thaliana Reveals >200 Transcription Initiation Sites and the Extensive Imprints of RNA-binding Proteins and Secondary Structures
2020.
Nucelic Acids Res..
:
Plant Ribonuclease J: An Essential Player in Maintaining Chloroplast RNA Quality Control for Gene Expression.
2020.
Plants.
9(3)
:
Systematic sequencing of chloroplast transcript termini from Arabidopsis thaliana reveals >200 transcription initiation sites and the extensive imprints of RNA-binding proteins and secondary structures
2019.
Nucleic Acids Research.
47
:11889–11905
Increased Rubisco content in maize mitigates chilling stress and speeds recovery
2019.
Plant Biotechnology Journal.
:1–12
Directions for research and training in plant omics: Big Questions and Big Data
2019.
Plant Direct.
:
Overexpression of Rubisco subunits with RAF1 increases Rubisco content in maize
2018.
Nature Plants.
4
:802–810
Reinventing postgraduate training in the plant sciences: T‐training defined through modularity, customization, and distributed mentorship
2018.
Plant Direct.
2
:e00095
A Guide to the Chloroplast Transcriptome Analysis Using RNA-Seq
2018.
The Nucleus (Methods in Molecular Biology).
1829
:295–313
High‐throughput droplet microfluidics screening platform for selecting fast‐growing and high lipid‐producing microalgae from a mutant library
2017.
Plant Direct.
1
:e00011
The Rubisco Chaperone BSD2 May Regulate Chloroplast Coverage in Maize Bundle Sheath Cells
2017.
Plant Physiology.
175
:pp.01346.2017–pp.01346.2017
Selecting high-growth/high-lipid producing microalgae from a mutant library through droplet microfluidics
2016.
:
200–201
ChloroSeq, an Optimized Chloroplast RNA-Seq Bioinformatic Pipeline, Reveals Remodeling of the Organellar Transcriptome Under Heat Stress
2016.
G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics.
6
:2817–2827
Activation of an Endoribonuclease by Non-intein Protein Splicing
2016.
Journal of Biological Chemistry.
291
:15911–15922
Arabidopsis Chloroplast Mini-Ribonuclease III Participates in rRNA Maturation and Intron Recycling
2015.
The Plant Cell.
27
:724–740
Compositions and methods useful for the regulation of abiotic stress responses in higher plants
US Patent:
11,859,194
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