Brian Larkins (The Boss)

 After completing my undergraduate degree in biology in 1969, I spent a year teaching high school biology. That experience provided immense incentive for me to return to the University of Nebraska and pursue a Ph.D. degree in botany. As it turned out, I received the last Ph.D. in botany awarded by the University of Nebraska in 1974. (They eliminated the department the following year.) I then set off for postdoctoral research work at Purdue University, where I worked with Dr. Arthur Dalby and Dr. C.Y. Tsai. My postdoctoral research project focused on characterizing the mechanism by which maize storage proteins (zeins) are synthesized and determining the mechanism by which their synthesis is altered in various endosperm mutants. I developed methods for isolating polysomes containing zein mRNAs and synthesizing zeins in vitro. My students and I isolated zein mRNAs and eventually cloned and characterized the genes encoding them. We've now spent a number of years trying to understand the mechanisms by which these proteins assemble into protein bodies and influence the texture (hardness) of the endosperm.

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