Dr. Tang conducted graduate research in the laboratory of Dr. F. Robert Tabita at the University of Texas at Austin and at Ohio State University on the regulation of carbon dioxide fixation in photosynthetic microorganisms. He received his Ph.D. in November, 1992. Postdoctoral studies were conducted primarily in plant lipid metabolism with Dr. Chris Somerville at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Stanford, Calif.
The identification of genes that impact the amounts and types of natural products produced by plants is a key research interest. Scientists have developed methods to genetically manipulate and search for these new genes at the cell or tissue level, as opposed to the whole plant level. Cells isolated from tobacco leaves are genetically manipulated and screened for the overproduction of biologically active substances, and then converted back to entire plants. The resulting tobacco plants therefore contain the new, desired characteristic. In collaboration with Dr. John Littleton and the molecular pharmacology research group, plant compounds with useful pharmacological properties are being sought.
In a second research area, identification is underway of new genes that, when mutated, confer enhanced tolerance to various types of stress conditions. These stresses include light, heat, pollutants as well as stress emanating from crowded growth conditions. The identified genes can be introduced into a crop plant of choice to confer the same stress-tolerant phenotype.
