Director

Kan Wang

Director, Center for Plant Transformation (Plant Sciences Institute)
Professor, Department of Agronomy

Ph. D., University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, 1987
B.S., Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China, 1982

Scientific Publications

Nahampun, H., Lopez-Arredondo, D., Xu, X., Herrera-Estrella, L., Wang, K. Assessment of ptxD gene as an alternative selectable marker for Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation. (supplementary materials) Plant Cell Reports 35: 1121-1132 (2016).

Wolt, JD, Wang, K, Yang, B. The regulatory status of genome-edited crops. Plant Biotechnology J. 14: 510-518 (2016).

Char, S-N., Unger-Wallace, E., Frame, B., Briggs, S., Main, M., Spalding, M., Vollbrecht, E., Wang, K., Yang, B. Heritable site-specific mutagenesis using TALENs in maize. Plant Biotechnology J. publish online first on Feb 3, 2015, doi: 10.1111/pbi.12344 (2015).

Nahampun, H., Bosworth, B., Cunnick, J., Mogler, M., Wang, K. Expression of H3N2 nucleoprotein in maize seeds and immunogenicity in mice. Plant Cell Reports 34: 969-980 (2015).

Oh, I-N., Jane, J-L., Wang, K., Park, J-T., Park, K-H.. Novel characteristics of a carbohydrate-binding module 20 from hyperthermophilic bacterium. Extremophiles 19: 363-371 (2015).

Martin-Ortigosa, S., Wang, K. Proteolistics: a biolistic method for intracellular delivery of proteins. Transgenic Research 23: 743-756 (2014).

Park, J-T., Suwanto, A., Tan, I., Nuryanto, T., Lukman, R., Wang, K., Jane, J-L. Molecular cloning and characterization of thermostable α-amylase possessing unusually high activity. Food Science and Biotechnology 23: 125-132 (2014).

Martin-Ortigosa, S., Peterson, D.J., Valenstein, J.S., Lin, V.S-Y., Trewyn, B.G., Lyznik, L.A., Wang, K. Mesoporous silica nanoparticle mediated intracellular Cre protein delivery for maize genome editing via loxP sites excision. Plant Physiology 164: 537-547 (2014). “Breakthrough Technology” paper.

Ji, Q., Xu, X., Wang, K. Genetic transformation of major cereal crops. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 57: 495-508. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.130244kw (2013).

Lee, K, Huang, X, Yang, C, Lee, D, Ho, V, Nobuta, K, Fan, J-B, Wang, K. A Genome-Wide Survey of Highly Expressed Non-Coding RNAs and Biological Validation of Selected Candidates in Agrobacterium tumefaciens.. PLoS ONE 8(8): e70720. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070720 (2013).

Nahampun, HN, Lee, CJ, Jane, J-L., Wang, K. Ectopic expression of bacterial amylopullulanase enhances bioethanol production from maize grain. Plant Cell Reports, published online May 2013, DOI 10.1007/s00299-013-1453-y (2013).

Neelakandan, A. K., Wang, K. Recent progress in the understanding of tissue culture induced genome level changes in plants and potential applications. Plant Cell Reports 31: 597-620 (2012).

Fornalé, S., Capellades, M., Encina1, A., Wang, K., Irar, S., Lapierre, C., Ruel, K., Joseleau, J-P., Berenguer, J., Puigdomènech, P., Rigau, J., Caparrós-Ruiz, D. Altered lignin biosynthesis improves cellulosic bioethanol production in transgenic maize plants downregulated for cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase. Molecular Plant 5: 817-830 (2012).

Moeller, L., Gan, Q., Wang, K. Establishment and characterization of a maize Hi-II endosperm culture. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant 48:283–294 (2012).

Martin-Ortigosa, S., Valenstein, J., Lin, V. S.-Y., Trewyn, B. G., Wang, K. Co-delivery and release of protein and DNA molecules in plant cell tissues using mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Advanced Functional Materials 22: 3576-3582 (2012).

Karaman, S., Cunnick, J., Wang, K. Expression of the cholera toxin B subunit (CT-B) in maize seeds and a combined mucosal treatment against cholera and traveler’s diarrhea . Plant Cell Reports 31:527–537 (2012).

Martin-Ortigosa, S., Valenstein, J., Sun, W., Moeller, L., Fang, N., Trewyn, B. G., Lin, V. S.-Y., Wang, K. Parameters affecting the efficient delivery of nanoparticles into plant cell tissues by the biolistic method. Small 8: 413–422 (2012).

Xu, X., Gan, Q., Clough, R. C., Pappu, K. M., Howard, J. A., Baez, J., A., Wang, K. Hydroxylation of recombinant humancollagen type I alpha 1 in transgenic maize co-expressed with a recombinant human prolyl 4-hydroxylase. BMC Biotechnology 11: 69-80 (2011).

Powell, R., Hudson, L. C., Lambirth, K. C., Luth, D., Wang, K., Bost, K. L., Piller, K. J. Recombinant expression of homodimeric 660 kDa human thyroglobulin in soybean seeds: an alternative source of human thyroglobulin. Plant Cell Reports 30: 1327-1338 (2011).

Frame, B., Main, M., Schick, R., Wang, K. Genetic Transformation Using Maize Immature Zygotic Embryos. In: Plant Embryo Culture Methods and Protocols: Methods in Molecular Biology. Trevor A. Thorpe and Edward C. Yeung (eds), Springer Science and Business Media, LLC. pp 327-341 (2011).

Oltmanns, H., Frame, B., Lee, L-Y., Johnson, S., Li, B., Wang, K., Gelvin, S.B. Generation of "backbone" free, low transgene copy plants by launching T-DNA from the Agrobacterium chromosome. Plant Physiology, 152: 1158-1166 (2010).

Wang, K., Frame, B., Xu, X., Moeller, L., Lamkey, K., Wise, R. Strategies for the production of maize-derived pharmaceuticals using cytoplasm male sterile lines: in vitro tissue culture/transformation and field breeding approaches. Maydica, 54: 199-210 (2009).

Moeller, L., Taylor-Vokes, R., Fox, S., Gan, Q., Johnson, L., Wang, K. Wet-milling transgenic maize seed for fraction enrichment of recombinant subunit vaccine. Biotechnology Progress Published on November 24, 2009; 10.1002/btpr.326 (on line).

Moeller, L., Gan, Qinglei, Wang, K. A bacterial signal peptide is functional in plants and directs proteins to the secretory pathway. Journal of Experimental Botany, 60: 3337–3352 (2009).

Wang, K., Frame, B. Biolistic gun mediated maize transformation. In: Transgenic Maize. M. Paul Scott (ed), Springer, New York, NY. In press, 2009.

Wang, K., Frame, B., Ishida, Y., Komari, T. Maize Genetic Transformation. In: Handbook of Maize: Genetics and Genomics. Jeff Bennetzen and Sarah Hake (eds), Springer, New York, NY. pp 609-640 (2009).

Mathieu, M., Winters, E. K., Kong, F., Wan, J., Wang, S., Eckert, H., Luth, D., Paz, M., Donovan, C., Zhang, Z., Somers, D., Wang, K., Nguyen, H., Shoemaker, R. C., Stacey, G., Clemente, T. Establishment of a soybean (Glycine max Merr. L) transposon-based mutagenesis repository. Planta, 229: 279-289 (2009).

Martinez, JC, Wang, K. A sterilization protocol for field-harvested maize mature seed used for in vitro culture and genetic transformation. Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter, 83 (2009), online publication: http://www.agron.missouri.edu/mnl/83/pdf files/01Martinez.pdf.

Moeller, L., Wang, K. Engineering with Precision: tools for new generation of biotech crops. BioScience, 58: 391-411 (2008).

Kosaki, H., Coats, J. R., Wang, K., Wolt, J. D. Persistence and degradation of maize-expressed vaccine protein, Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin subunit B, in Soil and Water. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 27: 1227-1237 (2008).

Champagne, C. E. M., Goliber, T. E., Wojciechowski, M. F., Mei, R. W., Townsley, B. T., Wang, K., Paz, M. M., Geeta, R., Sinha, N. R. Compound leaf development and evolution in the legumes. The Plant Cell, 19: 3369-3378 (2007).

Lee, L-Y, Kononov, M. E., Bassuner, B., Frame, B. R., Wang, K., Gelvin, S.B. Novel Plant Transformation Vectors Containing the Super-promoter. Plant Physiology, 145:1294-1300 (2007).

Torney, F., Moeller, L., Scarpa, A. and Wang, K. Genetic engineering approaches to improve bioethanol production from maize. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 18: 193-199 (2007).

Torney, F., Trewyn, B. G., Lin, V. S.-Y. and Wang, K. Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles deliver DNA and chemicals into plants. Nature Nanotechnology, 2: 295-300 (2007).

Beyer, A., Wang, K., Umble, A., Wolt, J., Cunnick, J. E. Low dose exposure and immunogenicity of transgenic maize expressing the Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin B subunit. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(3):354-360 (2007).

Torney, F., Frame, B., Wang, K. Maize. In: Tropical Crop Biotechnology. E.C. Pua and M. Davey (eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, pp 73-105 (2007).

Krakowsky, M. D., Lee, M., Garay, L., Woodman-Clikeman, W., Long, M. J., Sharopova, N., Frame, B., Wang, K. Quantitative trait loci for callus initiation and totipotency in maize (Zea mays L.) Theor Appl Genet, 113 (5): 821-830 (2006).

Wolt, J. D., Wang, K., Peterson, R. K. D. Assessing risk of unintended antigen occurrence in food: a case instance for maize-expressed LT-B. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 12 (5): 856-870 (2006).

Frame, B.R., McMurray, J.M., Fonger, T.M., Main, M.L., Taylor, K.W., Torney, F.J., Paz, M.M., Wang, K. Improved Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of three maize inbred lines using MS salts. Plant Cell Rep, 25: 1024-1034 (2006).

Che, P., Love, T.M., Frame, B., Wang, K., Carriquiry, A.L, Howell, S.H. Gene expression patterns during somatic embryo development and germination in maize Hi II callus cultures. Plant Molecular Biology, 62: 1-14 (2006).

PAZ, M., MARTINEZ, J. C., KALVIG, A. FONGER, T., WANG, K. Improved cotyledonary node method using an alternative explant derived from mature seed for efficient Agrobacterium-mediated soybean transformation. Plant Cell Reports, 25: 206-213 (2006). ( Erratum)

KARAMAN, S., CUNNICK, J., WANG, K. Analysis of Immune Response in Young and Aged Mice Vaccinated with Corn-derived Antigen against E. coli Heat Labile Enterotoxin. Molecular Biotechnology, 32: 31-42 (2006).

SHOU, H., BORDALLO, P., WANG, K. Expression of the Nicotiana protein kinase (NPK1) enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic maize. J. Exp. Botany, 55: 1013-1019 (2004).

SHOU, H., BORDALLO, FAN, J., YEAKLEY, J. M., BIBIKOVA, M., WANG, K. Expression of an active tobacco MAP kinase kinase kinase enhances freezing tolerance in transgenic maize. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 101: 3298-3303 (2004).

PAZ, M., SHOU, H., GUO, Z., ZHANG, Z., BANERJEE, A., WANG, K. Assessment of conditions affecting Agrobacterium-mediated soybean transformation using the cotyledonary node explant. Euphytica, 136: 167-179 (2004).

SHOU, H., FRAME, B., WHITHAM, S., WANG, K. Assessment of transgenic maize events produced by particle bombardment or Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Mol Breeding 13: 201-208 (2004).

WANG, K., CHIKWAMBA, R., CUNNICK, J. Plant-based oral vaccine. In: Novel Vaccination Strategies. S. H. E. Kaufman (ed). Wiley-VCH Publishing, Weinheim, P385-410 (2004).

CHIKWAMBA, R.K., SCOTT, M.P., MEJIA, L.B., MASON, H.S., WANG, K. Localization of a bacterial protein in starch granules of transgenic maize kernels. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 100: 11127-11132 (2003).

SHOU, H., PALMER, R., WANG, K. Irreproducibility of the soybean pollen-tube pathway transformation procedure. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, 20(4): 325-334 (2002).

CHIKWAMBA, R., MCMURRAY, J., SHOU, H., FRAME, B., PEGG, S.E., SCOTT, P., MASON, H., WANG, K. Expression of a synthetic E. coli heat-labile enterotoxin B sub-unit (LT-B) in maize. Mol Breeding, 10: 253-265 (2002).

CHIKWAMBA, R., CUNNICK, J., HATHAWAY, D., MCMURRAY, J., KIRK, D., MASON, H., WANG, K. A functional antigen in a practical crop: Corn derived LT-B protects mice against Escherichia coli heat labile enterotoxin (LT) and the cholera toxin (CT). Transgenic Research, 11:479-493 (2002).

FRAME, B.R., SHOU, H., CHIKWAMBA, R., ZHANG, Z., XIANG, C, FONGER, T., PEGG, S-E., LI, B., NETTLETON, D., PEI, P., WANG, K. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of maize embryos using a standard binary vector system. Plant Physiology, 129:13-22 (2002).

SANGTONG, V., MORAN, D.L., CHIKWAMBA, R., WANG, K., WOODMAN-CLIKEMAN, W., LONG, M.J., LEE, M., SCOTT, M.P. Expression and inheritance of the wheat Glu-1Dx5 gene in transgenic maize. Theor. Appl. Genet., 10:937-945 (2002).

WANG, K., FRAME, B., MARCELL, L.. Maize Genetic Transformation. In: Plant Genetic Engineering Vol 2: Improvement of Major Food Crops. P. K. Jaiwal and R. P. Singh (eds). Sci-Tech Publication, Houston, Texas, USA. pp175-217 (2003).

WISNER, R. N., FARNHAM, D, E., WANG, K.. Genetically and non-Genetically Modified Crops: How they are created, produced, and marketed. Tokyo-Agro-Forum, Vol 19, pp 1-31(2000).

FRAME, B., XIANG, C. B., PEGG, S. E., LI, S., WANG, K.. Progress in Agrobacterium-mediated maize transformation at the Plant Transformation Facility of Iowa State University. In: Plant Genetic Engineering: Toward the Third Millennium, A.D. Arenciba (ed), Elsevier Science B.V. (Amsterdam), pp82-87 (2000).

ZHANG, Z., GUO, Z., SHOU, H., PEGG, S. E., CLEMENTE, T. E., STASWICK, P. E., WANG, K.. Assessment of conditions affecting Agrobacterium-mediated soybean transformation and routine recovery of transgenic soybean. In: Plant Genetic Engineering: Toward the Third Millennium, A.D. Arenciba (ed), Elsevier Science B.V. (Amsterdam), pp88-94 (2000).

FRAME, B.R., ZHANG, H., COCCIOLONE, S.M., SIDORENKO, L.V., DIETRICH, C.R., PEGG, S.E., ZHEN, S., SCHNABLE, P.S., WANG, K.. Production of transgenic maize from bombarded type II callus: Effect of gold particle size and callus morphology on transformation efficiency. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Plant, 36:21-29 (2000).

XIANG, C., HAN, P, LUTZIGER, I., WANG, K., OLIVER, D.. A mini binary vector series for plant transformation. Plant Molecular Biology, 40:711-717 (1999).

SEKAR V., HELD B., TIPPETT J., AMIRHUSIN B., ROBEFF P., WANG K, WILSON H.M.. Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of the Insecticidal Fragment of CryV. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 63:2798-2801 (1997).

WANG K., FRAME B.R., DRAYTON P.R., DUNWELL J.M., THOMPSON J.A.. Whisker-mediated plant transformation: An alternative technology. In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plant, 31:101-104 (1995).

THOMPSON J.A., DRAYTON P.R., FRAME B.R., WANG K., DUNWELL J.M.. Maize transformation using silicon carbide whiskers: a review. Euphytica, 85:75-80 (1995).

WANG K., FRAME B., DRAYTON P., THOMPSON J.. Silicon Carbide Whisker-mediated Transformation: Regeneration of transgenic maize plants. In: Springer Laboratory: Gene Transfer to Plants I. Potrykus (ed), Springer-Verlag, (1995).

WANG, K., HERRERA-ESTRELLA, A., VAN MONTAGU, M. (Eds) Transformation of Plants and Soil Microorganisms in the series of "Genetic Transformation" of the Cambridge University Press (London), (1995).

FRAME B., DRAYTON P., BAGNALL S., LEWNAU C., BULLOCK P., WILSON M., DUNWELL J., THOMPSON, J., WANG K.. Production of fertile transgenic maize plants by silicon carbide whisker-mediated transformation. The Plant Journal 6:941-948 (1994).

HERRERA-ESTRELLA, A., VAN MONTAGU, M., WANG, K. A bacterial peptide acting as a plant nuclear targeting signal: the amino-terminal portion of Agrobacterium VirD2 protein directs a B-galactosidase fusion protein into tobacco nuclei. Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA 87:9534-9537 (1990).

WANG, K., HERRERA-ESTRELLA, A., VAN MONTAGU, M. Overexpression of virD1 and virD2 genes in Agrobacterium tumefaciens enhances T-complex formation and plant transformation. J. Bacteriol. 172:4432-4440 (1990).

HERRERA-ESTRELLA, A., CHEN, Z-M., VAN MONTAGU, M., WANG, K. VirD proteins of Agrobacterium tumefaciens are required for the formation of a covalent DNA-protein complex at the 5' terminus of T-strand molecules. The EMBO J. 7:4055-4062 (1988).

VERNADE, D., HERRERA-ESTRELLA, A., WANG, K., VAN MONTAGU, M. Glycine betaine allows enhanced induction of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens vir genes by acetosyringone at low pH. J. Bacteriol. 170:5822-5829 (1988).

WANG, K., GENETELLO, C., VAN MONTAGU, M., ZAMBRYSKI, P. Sequence context of the T-DNA border repeat elements determines its relative activity during T-DNA transfer to plant cells. Mol.Gen.Genet. 210:338-346 (1987).

WANG, K., STACHEL, S.E., TIMMERMAN, B., VAN MONTAGU, M., ZAMBRYSKI, P. Site-specific nick in the T-DNA border sequence as a result of Agrobacterium vir gene expression. Science. 325:587-591 (1987).

OTTEN, L., VELTEN, J., VELTEN, L., HAIN, R., WANG, K., HERRERA-ESTRELLA, L., ZAMBRYSKI, P., VAN MONTAGU, M., SCHELL, J. Analysis of pTi-encoded functions and their use in the genetic engineering of high plants. In : "Molecular Form and Function of fte Plant Genome", (NATO ASI Series A, Life Sciences Vol. 83), L. van Vloten-Doting, G.S.P. Groot, and T.C. Hall (Eds.). New York, Plenum Press, 669-682 (1985).

KOUKOLIKOVA-NICOLA, Z., SHILLITO, R.D., HOHN, B., WANG, K., VAN MONTAGU, M., ZAMBRYSKI, P. Involvement of circular intermediates in the transfer of T-DNA from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to plant cells. Nature (London). 312:191-196 (1985).

WANG, K., HERRERA-ESTRELLA, L., VAN MONTAGU, M., ZAMBRYSKI, P. Right 25-bp terminus sequences of the nopaline T-DNA is essantial for and determines direction of DNA transfer from Agrobacterium to the plant genome. Cell. 38:455-462 (1984).