Research Interests

Seed Biology

My research interests are in all aspects of seed biology, from the genetics, molecular biology and physiology of seed development, dormancy and germination to the production, storage, enhancement and utilization of seeds for agricultural purposes. I also am involved in mathematical modeling of seed germination responses to environmental inputs with applications for seed ecology. My disciplinary expertise is primarily in the hormonal regulation of plant growth and development and plant water relations. I am Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center and am engaged in research, extension and public service relevant to the seed and plant biotechnology industries.

Grad Group Affiliations

• Horticulture and Agronomy
• Plant Biology

Specialties / Focus

• Cell and Developmental Biology
• Environmental and Integrative Biology
• Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Genomics

Courses

• PBI 223 Special Study in Scientific Method, Fall
• PLS 298 Seed Physiology, Occasionally
• PLS 100BL Growth and Development of Crop Plants Laboratory, Winter
• PLS 100B Growth and Development of Crop Plants, Winter
• BIT 171 Ethics and Professionalism in Genomics and Biotechnology, Fall

Labs

• Bradford lab http://sbc.ucdavis.edu

Honors and Awards

• Seed Science Career Award -- Crop Science Society of America, 2002
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2003
• Award of Distinction, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis, 2007

Professional Societies

• American Society of Plant Biologists
• International Society for Seed Science
• American Society for Horticultural Science

Degrees

• 1981 PhD Plant Physiology University of California, Davis
• 1977 MS Horticulture Michigan State University
• 1975 BS Biochemistry Michigan State University

Publications

Selected recent publications.

Bewley, J.D., Bradford, K.J., Hilhorst, H.W.M., and Nonogaki, H. 2012. Seeds: Physiology of Development and Germination, Third Edition, Springer, NY. (in press)

Argyris, J., Truco, M.J., Ochoa, O., McHale, L., Dahal, P., Van Deynze, A., Michelmore, R.W., Bradford, K.J. 2011. A gene encoding an abscisic acid biosynthetic enzyme (LsNCED4) collocates with the high temperature germination locus Htg6.1 in lettuce (Lactuca sp.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 122: 95-108

Schwember, A.R., and Bradford, K.J. 2010. A genetic locus and gene expression patterns associated with the priming effect on lettuce seed germination at elevated temperatures. Plant Mol. Biol. 73: 105-118

Bradford, K.J., and Harada, J.J. 2010. Introduction to Translational Seed Biology: From Model Systems to Crop Improvement. Plant Sci. 179: 553-553

Miller, J.K., Bradford, K.J. 2010. The regulatory bottleneck for biotech specialty crops. Nature Biotechnology 10: 1012-1014

Argyris, J.M., Dahal, P., Hayashi, E., Still, D.W., and Bradford, K.J. 2008. Genetic variation for lettuce seed thermoinhibition is associated with temperature-sensitive expression of abscisic acid, gibberellin and ethylene biosynthesis, metabolism and response genes. Plant Physiol. 148: 926-947

Bradford, K.J. and Nonogaki, H., eds. 2007. Seed Development, Dormancy and Germination. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, U.K.