Biosketch
Luca Comai, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of Plant Biology at the Genome Center of the University of California at Davis. He holds a B.S. equivalent in agricultural sciences from the Universita’ di Bologna, Italy, an M.S. in plant pathology from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from UC Davis. Dr. Comai worked at Calgene Inc and was a professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Comai is a member of the Genetic Society of America, of the American Society of Plant Biology, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received Distinguished Teaching and Research Awards from the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences, and the American Society of Plant Biology Innovation Prize for Agricultural Technology.
Research Interests
Dr. Comai's research addresses how variation and mutation in chromosome number and structure contribute to the function and evolution of genomes, and how chromosomes can be modified to study their function and to facilitate plant breeding. His laboratory studies the effect of DNA dosage, sex determination, mechanisms of segregation, genome instability and uniparental elimination, and the application of induced mutations to functional genomics.
Membership Type
Member
Election Year
2023
Primary Section
Section 62: Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences
Secondary Section
Section 26: Genetics