Gary Coleman

Biography: 

Annual plants must acquire and assimilate N from the soil to support growth and development. N homeostasis in perennial trees is more complex since it also involves internal cycling and reuse of assimilated and reduced N.   N storage and cycling in temperate deciduous tree species occurs seasonally and involves two phases.  In autumn N is mobilized from senescing leaves where it is transported to, and stored in, perennial bark tissues.  When growth commences in spring, stored N is remobilized from bark and partitioned to growing tissues.  This occurs annually so as trees age this internal N cycling increasingly contributes to the overall N budget of the tree, providing a competitive advantage in N limited environments and is a major contributor to N-use efficiency.  N storage and cycling is also part of the N budget of temperate evergreens and during the wet/dry cycles encountered by tropical trees.  Research in my laboratory is directed at understanding the biology of of nitrogen cycling in trees and how this impact tree growth and development.   My laboratory uses poplar (Populus) as a model to investigate these two traits using molecular biology, genetic, genomic, proteomic and physiological approaches. 

Education: 

Ph.D., University of Nebraska, Horticulture-Forestry

M.S., Colorado State University, Forest Genetics

B.S., Colorado State University, Forest Biology

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR (1990 to 1995)

University of Maryland, College Park, 1995-current

Awards and Honors: 

• College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Junior Faculty Excellence Award

• Marsho Award for best graduate student paper. 1999 Research Meeting, Washington Area Section, American Society of Plant Physiologists. Black B.L., Fuchigami L.H. and G.D. Coleman. 1999. Antisense expression of poplar BSP cDNA alters long-day growth, dry weight partitioning and nitrogen content.

• National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, appointment as a member of the Committee on Novel Approaches to the Management of Greenhouse Gases.  Committee appointment 2002-2004.

• National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, appointment as a member of the Committee to Review the R&D Strategy for Biomass-Derived Ethanol and Biodiesel Transportation Fuels.  Committee appointment 1998-1999.

• Testimony before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, March22, 2012.

• Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar mentor recognition, 2015.

Professional Positions Held: 

Professional Service: 

Professional organizations:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science, member

• American Society of Plant Biologist, member

• 17th Annual Plant Minisymposium, Co-Chair, University of Maryland, 2016

• American Society of Plant Biologist, Chair, Mid-Atlantic section, 2010-2012.

• American Society of Plant Physiologists, Chair, Washington section, 2000.

• American Society of Plant Physiologists, Chair-elect, Washington section, 1999.

Editorial:

• Scientific Advisory Committee member, IUFRO Tree Biotechnology, 2013

• Tree Physiology, editorial board, 2001-2003

• Tree Physiology, editorial board, 2004-2005

Areas of Interest: 

• Tree growth and development

• Nitrogen storage

• Bud dormancy

• Plant Adaptation

• Nitrogen-use efficiency 

Current Research: 

Selected Presentations: 

• Nitrogen cycling and transport in the forest tree Populus and the perennial lifestyle.  International Workshop on Plant Membrane Biology, June 2016.

• Nitrate accumulation in plants. Workshop on Dietary Nitrates and the Epidemiology of Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, September 17, 2014.

• Parmentier-Line, C.M. and Coleman, G. D., 2013. Overexpression of Poplar FD in prevents short-day growth cessation and bud formation. International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Plant Biotechnology 2013. Asheville, NC, June 2013.

• Pettengill, E.A., Pettengill, J.B., and Coleman, G.D., 2013. Comparative analysis and characterization of vegetative storage proteins (nucleoside phosphyorylase paralogs) in Populus and distribution of the orthologs in the plant kingdom. International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Plant Biotechnology 2013. Asheville, NC, June 2013.

• Lin, R., Islam, N., Sriram, G., and Coleman, G.D., 2013. Photoperiod associated changes in the Poplar bark transcriptome. International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Plant Biotechnology 2013. Asheville, NC, June 2013. (peer reviewed).

• Islam, N., Cooper, B., Garrett, W.M., Misra, A., Sriram, G., and Coleman, G.D., 2013. Identification of proteases associated with Poplar bark storage protein remobilization using MudPIT. International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Plant Biotechnology 2013. Asheville, NC, June 2013. (peer reviewed).

• Nargund, S., Misra, A., Zhang, X., Coleman, G.D., and Sriram G., 2012. Elucidations of carbon-nitrogen interactions in poplar by isotope-assisted metabolic flux analysis. 243rd meeting of the American Chemical Society National Meeting. San Diego, CA. March 2012.

• Coleman, G.D., Lin, R., Islam, N., Mirsa, A., Zhu, J., and Sriram, G. 2012. Metabolic Induction of N Storage and Cycling in Poplar is Associated with Wide-spread Changes in the Bark Transcriptome and Proteome. Plant and Animal Genome Meeting XX. San Diego, CA. January 2012

• Coleman, G.D., Chen, K-Y., and Parmentier-Line, C. 2012. Over-expression of a Poplar FLC-like MADS-box Gene Impinges of Vegetative Bud Dormancy. Plant and Animal Genome Meeting XX. San Diego, CA. January 2012

• Misra, A., Williams, D., Johnnie, J., Coleman, G.D., Sriram, G. 2011. Flux Balance Analysis of Plant Suspension Cell Cultures.  Annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AlChE), Minneapolis, MN. October 2011

• Islam, N., Sriram, G., Zhu, J., and Coleman, G.D. 2010. A Proteomic Approach towards Understanding Nitrogen Cycling and Storage in Poplar.  Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists, Minneapolis, MN. August 2010

• Lin, R., Sriram, G., Zhu, J., and Coleman, G.D. 2010. Global Changes in Gene Expression Associated with Metabolic Induction of Nitrogen Storage and Cycling in Poplar. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists, Minneapolis, MN. August 2010

•  Lunzer, E., and Coleman, G.D. 2010. Metabolite Induction and Differential Expression of Poplar Bark Storage Protein Genes. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists, Minneapolis, MN. August 2010

Examples of Funded Projects:

• An Integrative Study of Nitrogen Cycling and Storage in Poplar.Supporting Agency: National Science Foundation, Plant Genome Program

• Role of a FLC-like MADS Box Gene in Poplar Vegetative Bud Development and Dormancy. Supporting Agency: National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, United States Department of Agriculture

• Functional Genomics of Vegetative Bud Dormancy in Poplar.. Supporting Agency: National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, United States Department of Agriculture

• Mechanisms Regulating Nitrogen Storage in Woody Perennials. Supporting agency: National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, United States Department of Agriculture

• An Integrated Approach to Determining the Role of Storage Proteins in Perennial Woody Plant Seasonal Nitrogen Cycling. Supporting agency:  National Science Foundation

• Environmental Regulation of Poplar Bark Storage Protein Gene Expression. Supporting agency: National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, United States Department of Agriculture

Courses Taught: 

Selected Publications: 

Articles in Refereed Journals:

• Ahluwalia, A., Gladwin, M., Coleman, G.D., Ph.D., Hord, N., Howard, G., Kim-Shapiro,  D., Lajous, M., Larsen, F.J., ,Ph.D., Lefer, D.J., McClure, L.A., Nolan, B.T., Pluta, R., Schechter, A., Wang, C-Y., Ward, M.H., Harman, J.L. 2016. Dietary Nitrate and the Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease: Report from a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop.  Journal American Heart Association, DOI 10.1161/JAHA.116.003402.

• Parmentier-Line, C. M.; Coleman, G. D. 2015. Constitutive expression of the Poplar FD-like basic leucine zipper transcription factor alters growth and bud development. Plant Biotechnol. J., doi: 10.1111/pbi.12380

• Islam, N., Gen, L., Garrett, W.M., Lin, R., Sriram, G., Cooper, B., and G.D. Coleman. 2014. The proteomics of nitrogen remobilization in poplar bark. Journal of Proteome Research DOI 10.1021/pr501090p.

• Nargund, S., Misra, A., Zhang, X., Coleman, G.D., and G. Sriram. 2014. Flux and reflux: Metabolite reflux in plant suspension cells and its implications on isotope-assisted metabolic flux analysis.  Molecular BioSystems DOI:10.1039/C3MB70348G.

• Pettengill, E., Pettengill, J., and G. D. Coleman. 2013. Elucidating the evolutionary history and expression patterns of nucleoside phosphorylase paralogs (vegetative storage proteins) in Populus and the plant kingdom. BMC Plant Biology 13:118. (DOI:10.1186/1471-2229-13-118); PMID: 23957885.

• Black B., Fuchigami L.H. and G.D. Coleman. 2002. Partitioning of nitrate assimilation between leaves, stems, and roots of poplar. Tree Physiology. 22:717-724.

• Zhu B. and G.D. Coleman. 2001. Phytochrome-mediated photoperiod perception, shoot growth, glutamine, calcium and protein phosphorylation influence the activity of the poplar bark storage protein gene promoter. Plant Physiology. 126:342-351.

• Zhu B. and G.D. Coleman. 2001. The Poplar Bark Storage Protein Gene (bspA) Promoter is responsive to photoperiod and nitrogen in transgenic poplar and active in floral tissues, immature seeds and germinating seeds of transgenic tobacco.  Plant Molecular Biology. 46 (4):383-394.

• Coleman G.D., Banados M.P. and T.H.H. Chen. 1994. Poplar bark storage protein and a related wound-induced gene are differentially induced by nitrogen.  Plant Physiology 106:211-215.

• Coleman G.D., Englert J., Chen T.H.H. and L. Fuchigami. 1993.  Physiological and environmental control of poplar bark storage protein degradation.  Plant Physiology 102:53-59.

• Coleman G.D., Chen T.H.H. and L. Fuchigami. 1992.  Complementary DNA cloning of poplar bark storage protein and control of its expression by photoperiod. Plant Physiology 98:687-693.

• Coleman G.D., Chen T.H.H., Ernst S.G. and L. Fuchigami. 1991. Photoperiod control of poplar bark storage protein accumulation.  Plant Physiology 96:686-692.

Book Reviews, Other Articles and Notes:
Public Database Entries

• Parmentier-Line, C., and Coleman, G. 2013. FD and vegetative development. Gene Expression Omnibus Database (GEO). GEO accession number GSE49547. This entry included the data from 12 microarrays that profiles genome-wide patterns of gene expression.

• Lin, R., and Coleman, G. 2013. Global transcriptome profiling of poplar bark during stored N remobilization. Gene Expression Omnibus Database (GEO). GEO accession number GSE29303. This entry includes the data from 12 microarrays that profiles genome-wide patterns of gene expression.

• Lin, R., and Coleman, G. 2013. Photoperiod associated genes in the poplar bark. Gene Expression Omnibus Database (GEO). GEO accession number GSE49983. This entry includes the data from 21 microarrays that profiles genome-wide patterns of gene expression.

• Lin, R., Coleman, G., Sriram, G., Zhu, J. 2011. Genome-wide transcript profiling associated with metabolic regulation of Poplar N storage and cycling. Gene Expression Omnibus Database (GEO). GEO accession number GSE29303. This entry includes the data from 48 microarrays that profiles genome-wide patterns of gene expression.

Original Designs, Plans, Inventions, and Patents:

• Methods for Modulating Apical Bud Development in Plants, U.S. Patent 8,304,602, dated November 6, 2012.