Dr. Marcelo D. Serpe began his study of agricultural engineering at Universidad de
Buenos Aires, and then earned an M.S. in Plant Science at California State University,
Fresno, and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology at the University of California, Davis. He taught
for three years at the University of Puerto Rico before coming to Boise State University
in 1998 as a member of the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences. 

Dr. Serpe's research seeks to understand the regulation of plant growth by
environmental and biochemical factors, through studies at the molecular, cellular and
whole plant levels. One of his goals is to improve our understanding of the factors that
control germination and seedling establishment of native vegetation, enabling the
development of better approaches to the restoration of sagebrush habitats which have
experienced major changes due to invasion by exotic annual grasses and an increase in the
frequency of wildfires. He presents his findings widely and maintains memberships in the
American Society of Plant Biologists and the Botanical Society of America.

Articles

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Bromus tectorum Litter Alters Photosynthetic Characteristics of Biological Soil Crusts from a Semiarid Shrubland (with Eric Roberts, David J. Eldridge, and Roger Rosentreter), Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2013)

Invasion by the exotic annual grass Bromus tectorum has increased the cover and connectivity...

 

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Homoploid Hybrid Speciation in a Rare Endemic Castilleja from Idaho (Castilleja christii, Orobanchaceae) (with Danielle L. Clay, Stephen J. Novak, David C. Tank, and James F. Smith), American Journal of Botany (2012)

• Premise of the study: Hybridization is an important evolutionary force in the history...

 

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Combined Effects of Nitrogen Deposition and Water Stress on Growth and Physiological Responses of Two Annual Desert Plants in Northwestern China (with Xiaobing Zhou, Yuanming Zhang, Xuehua Ji, and Alison Downing), Environmental and Experimental Botany (2011)

Two annual desert plants, Malcolmia africana (L.) R.Br. (Brassicaceae) and Bassia hyssopifolia (Pall.) Kuntz (Chenopodiaceae)...

 

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Changes in the Expression of Carbohydrate Metabolism Genes During Three Phases of Bud Dormancy in Leafy Spurge (with Wun S. Chao), Plant Molecular Biology (2010)

Underground adventitious buds of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) undergo three well-defined phases of dormancy, para-,...

 

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Environmental Regulation of Dormancy Loss in Lomatium dissectum (Apiaceae) Seeds (with Melissa Scholten, Jacklyn Donahue, and Nancy L. Shaw), Annals of Botany (2009)

Background and aims Lomatium dissectum (Apiaceae) is a perennial, herbaceous plant of wide distribution in...

 

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Presentations

Dynamics of ACC Oxidase and Ethylene During Growth of Leafy Spurge Buds (with Wun S. Chao, Jeffrey C. Suttle, and Ying Jia), Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists (2011)

Underground adventitious buds of leafy spurge undergo three well-defined phases of dormancy, para-, endo-, and...

 

Identification of Mycorrhizal Species Associated with Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis in Southwestern Idaho (with K. Carter and M. White), Annual Meeting of the Mycological Society of America (2011)
 

Germination and Seed Water Status of Native and Exotic Grasses on Biological Soil Crusts from the Great Basin of North America, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science (2008)