Marla L. Binzel Associate Professor Department of Horticultural Sciences and Institute of Plant Genomics and Biotechnology MS 2133 College Station, TX 77845-2133 Phone: (979) 845-8938 Fax: (979) 845-0627 E-mail: m-binzel@tamu.edu Marla Binzel received her B.S. in Plant Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1981. She received her Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Purdue University in 1987 and held a postdoctoral position there from from 1987 to 1989. From 1989-2000, Dr. Binzel's research program was located at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Center in El Paso, TX. Dr. Binzel is a member of the graduate faculty of Texas A&M University, the intercollegiate faculty of Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences (MEPS) and the Professional Program in Biotechnology . Dr. Binzel team teaches HORT201H , HORT202H and MEPS/GENE 411 Dr. Binzel's overall research objective is to apply molecular genetics and cell physiology to crop improvement. One of the areas of focus involves the examination of mechanisms of osmotic adjustment and ion transport which contribute to salt and drought tolerance in plants. Specifically, Dr. Binzel's research group is studying how salinity and drought alter the regulation and expression of genes encoding the vacuolar H+-ATPase and PP-ase. Another area of on-going research is the development and utilization of methodology for genetic transformation of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). "My philosophy on advising graduate students emphasizes the development of independent thinking and critical evaluation of research." SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Function of membrane transport systems under salinity: tonoplast. 2002. M. Binzel and R. Ratajczak. in Salinity: Environment - Plants - Molecules. A Lauchli and U Luttge (eds), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. pp423-450. Abscisic acid does not mediate NaCl-induced accumulation of 70-kDa subunit tonoplast H+-ATPase message in tomato. 1995. M.L. Binzel and J.R. Dunlap. Planta 197:563-568. Induction of direct somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) 1996. M.L. Binzel, N. Sankhla, S. Joshi, and D. Sankhla. Plant Cell Reports 15:536-540.