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William F. Sheridan
Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor
B.S.A., 1958, M.S., 1960, University of Florida;
Ph.D. 1965, University of Illinois.
Genetics and Developmental Biology of Plants.
Tel. (701) 777-4479 or 777-2621
Associate Editor, GENETICS.
Editor, MAIZE FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH, a special publication of the Plant Molecular
Biology Association.
Fellow of American Association for Advancement of Science.
Fulbright Award, Denmark 1977- 1978.
Honorary Fellow, University of Minnesota, 1981-82.
Visiting Professor, Purdue University, 1988.
Visiting Professor, University of Oregon 1988-90.
The research interests of my laboratory are in genetics and developmental biology. Current research involves the use of maize, a plant especially well suited for fundamental investigation since it is the best characterized flowering plant from a genetic point of view.
Genetic, morphological, structural, and molecular techniques are being used to pursue a greater understanding of plant development and the role of genes in this process.
A genetic dissection of embryo development is being done by characterizing a group of mutants that are blocked at different stages early in embryo development and by comparing them with normal embryos. We are especially interested in studying how genes are involved in the formation of the shoot apex and first leaf primordium, that is, how the mass of cells of the proembryo differentiates into specific structures arranged in precise patterns and the role of genes in this sequence.
We are also conducting a mutational analysis of maize meiosis in collaboration with Dr. Inna Golubovskaya of the Vavilov Plant Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. In this research we are identifying and characterizing genes that control the commitment of cells to meiosis as well as the cellular events of the meiotic process. We are also conducting a mutational analysis of female gametophyte development in maize. In this study we are seeking to identify genes that control the development of the functional megaspore into the mature embryo sac.
Graduate students performing research in my laboratory learn how to plant, take care of and hand-pollinate maize, how to harvest and store it; how to make genetic crosses and analyze them to map genes; how to dissect our embryos from kernels and culture them on media and to fix and prepare them for light and electron microscopy; how to prepare media and perform various tissue culture techniques. We are initiating studies using recombinant DNA techniques for cloning and characterizing the genes of interest. These research activities provide the opportunity to acquire a broad range of techniques and knowledge in plant genetics and plant development biology.
For the past several years the research on the maize mutants has been sponsored by grants from the National Science Foundation and is currently being supported by the Developmental Biology program at NSF.
Representative Publications
Golubovskaya, I., N. A. Avalkina and W. F. Sheridan. 1992. Effects of several meiotic mutations on female meiosis in maize. Develop. Genetics 13:411-424.
Sheridan, W. F. and J. K. Clark. 1993. Mutational analysis of morphogenesis of the maize embryo. Plant Journal 3:347-358.
Birchler, J.A. and W. F. Sheridan. 1993. Evidence for induction of a B-A translocation involving the long and short arms of chromosome 10 in maize. Maydica 38:115-119.
Golubovskaya, I., Z. K. Grehennikova, N.A. Avalkina, and W. F. Sheridan. 1993. The role of the Ameiotic1 gene in the initiation of meiosis and in subsequent meiotic events in maize. Genetics 135:1151-1166.
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