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Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University
Jo Ann (Jody) Banks Faculty Page
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Professor of Botany
Purdue University
Botany and Plant Pathology, Lilly Hall
915 West State Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054
Office:  WSLR B028
Phone: (765) 494-5895
FAX:      (765) 494-5896
E-mail:   
Area: Plant Molecular and Developmental Biology - genetic and molecular basis of sex determination and differentiation in plants.

Education/Background | Research Interests | Assistantships/Positions | Publications | Web Links


Education/Background

Dr. Banks received a Ph.D. in Genetics from Ohio State University in 1985 then did a postdoc at the Carnegie Institution of Washington until 1989 working on the epigenetic regulation of Spm transposable elements in maize. After a short stint at McGill University, Banks moved to Purdue University in 1991 where she started a research program to study the interesting and unique biology of lower vascular plants.


SEMs of developing Ceratopteris gametophytes


Research Interests

Research in the Banks lab focuses on three topics:

  1. sex determination in the fern Ceratopteris richardii; the molecular basis of arsenic hyperaccumulation in the fern Pteris vittata;
  2. the genome sequencing of the lycophyte Selaginella mollendorffii.


Assistantships and Positions

Please contact me directly for information on assistantships and openings in my program. Follow these links for general information on graduate programs or employment announcements.


Recent Publications

Hirano, K. +13 others.  2007. The GA perception mechanism mediated by the GID1/DELLA system is conserved in the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii but not in the bryophyte Physcomitrella patens.  Submitted.

Liang, H. + 15 others.  2006.  Development of a BAC library for yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and the identification of genes associated with flower development and lignin biosynthesis.  Tree Genetics and Genomes.  Published online December 2006.

Ellis, D., L. Gumaelius, E. Indriolo, I. Pickering, J. Banks and D. Salt.  2006.  Isolation and characterization of a unique arsenate reductase from the arsenic hyperaccumulating fern Pteris vittata. Plant Physiol. 141:1544-1554.

Pickering, I., L. Gumaelius, H. Harris, R. Prince, G. Hirsch, J. Banks, D. Salt and G. George.  2006. Localizing the biochemical transformations of arsenate in a hyperaccumulating fern. Environ. Sci. Tech. 40:5010-5014.

Wang, W. (+15 others).  2005.  Construction of a bacterial artificial chromosome library from the spikemoss Selaginella moellendorffii: a new resource for plant comparative genomics.  BMC Plant Biol. 5:10-16.

Sano, R., C. Juarez, B. Hass, K. Sakakibara, M. Ito, J. Banks and M. Hasebe.  2005. KNOX homeobox genes potentially have similar function in both diploid unicellular and multicellular meristems, but not in haploid meristems.  Evol. Dev. 7:69-78.

Gumaelius, L., B. Lahner, D. Salt and J. Banks.  2004.  Arsenic hyperaccumulation in gametophytes of Pteris vittata. A new model system for analysis of arsenic hyperaccumulation.  Plant Physiol. 136:3198-3208.

Tanurdzic, M. and J. Banks.  2004.  Sex-determining mechanisms in land plants.  Plant Cell 16:S61-71.

Rutherford, G., M. Tanurdzic and J. Banks.  2004.  Systemic gene silencing as a reverse genetics tool in gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris richardii.  BMC Plant Biol. 4:16-21.

Pryer, K., Schneider, H., Zimmer, E. and J. Banks.  2002.  Deciding among green plants for whole genome studies.  Trends Plant Sci. 7:550-554.

Strain, E., B. Hass and J. Banks.  2001.  Characterization of mutations that feminize gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris.  Genetics 159:1271-1281.

Banks, J.  1999.  Gametophyte development in ferns.  Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 50:163-186.

Wen, C.K., R. Smith and J. Banks.  1999.  ANI1. A sex pheromone-induced gene in ceratopteris gametophytes and its possible role in sex determination.  Plant Cell 11:1307-1318.

Aso, K., M. Kato, J. Banks and M. Hasebe.  1999.  Characterization of homeodomain-leucine zipper genes in the fern Ceratopteris richardii and the evolution of the homeodomain-leucine zipper gene family in vascular plants.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 16:544-552.

Juarez, C. and J. Banks.  1998.  Sex determination in plants.  Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 1:68-72.

Hasebe. M., C. Wen, M. Kato and J. Banks.  1998.  Characterization of MADS homeotic genes in the fern Ceratopteris richardii.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95:6222-6227.

Banks, J.  1997.  The TRANSFORMER genes of the fern Ceratopteris simultaneously promote meristem and archegonia development and repress antheridia development in the developing gametophyte.  Genetics 147:1885-1897.

DeYoung, B., T. Weber, B. Hass and J. Banks.  1997.  Generating autotetraploid sporophytes and their use in analyzing mutations affecting gametophyte development in the fern Ceratopteris.  Genetics 147:809-814.

Jennings, J., J. Banks and R. Coolbaugh.  1996.  Subtractive hybridization between cDNAs from untreated and AMO-1618-treated cultures of Gibberella fujikuroi.  Plant Cell Physiol. 37:847-854.

Eberle, J.R. and J. Banks.  1996.  Genetic interactions among sex-determining genes in the fern Ceratopteris richardii.  Genetics 142:973-985.

Banks, J.  1994.  Sex-determining genes in the homosporous fern Ceratopteris.  Development 120:1949-1958.

Masson, P., J. Banks and N. Fedoroff.  1991.  Structure and function of the maize Spm transposable element.  Biochimie 73:5-8.

Masson, P., G. Rutherford, J. Banks and N. Fedoroff.  1989.  Essential large transcripts of the maize Spm transposable element are generated by alternative splicing.  Cell 58:755-765.

Fedoroff, N., P. Masson and J. Banks.  1989.  Mutations, epimutations, and the developmental programming of the maize Suppressor-mutator transposable element.  Bioessays 10:139-144.

Banks, J., P. Masson and N. Fedoroff.  1988.  Molecular mechanisms in the developmental regulation of the maize Suppressor-mutator transposable element.  Genes Dev. 2:1364-1380.

Fedoroff, N. and J. Banks. 1988.  Is the Suppressor-mutator element controlled by a basic developmental regulatory mechanism?  Genetics 120:559-577.

Banks, J. and C. W. Birky.  1985.  Chloroplast DNA diversity is low in a wild plant, Lupinus texensis.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 82:6950-6954.

Banks, J.  1980. The reproductive biology of Erythronium propullans Gray and sympatric populations of E. albidum Nutt. (Liliaceae). Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 107:181-188.


Web Links of Interest

More information on sex determination in Ceratopteris, as well as our studies of the evolution of development regulatory genes can be obtained from: