Faculty Research Awards 2014

Natalia Dudareva, Ph. D.

Distinguished Professor
Department of Biochemistry
Purdue University

Dr. Dudareva was appointed as an assistant professor in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture in 1997, following postdoctoral research positions at the University of Michigan (1995-1997) and the University of Windsor, Canada (1993-1995) as well as research scientist assignments at the Institute de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, Strasbourg, France (1991-1993) and the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia (1982-1991).

At Purdue, she quickly established a research program in the biochemistry of plant secondary metabolism with emphasis on the biosynthesis of plant volatiles (especially terpenoids, phenylpropanoids and amino acid volatiles) and their contribution to floral scents and plant defense. Her approach and discoveries literally transformed a field that had been primarily descriptive in nature to one that embraces a mechanistic approach to understanding the biochemical and molecular genetic regulation of key biosynthetic pathways and pathway networks. Her work is fundamentally important because plant volatile compounds serve as pollinator attractants, plant defensive molecules, and signaling molecules that modulate communication among plants, herbivores, and pathogens. Such chemical communication is crucial in eliciting systemic resistance responses and providing for defensive priming with regard to biotic and abiotic stresses. The role of floral scent in relation to the behavior of pollinators is especially important in human nutrition, considering that one-third of our total diet depends, directly or indirectly, upon insect-pollinated plants including most fruit trees, berries, nuts, oilseeds, and vegetables. More recently, Dr. Dudareva's research has moved in a direction that is of direct relevance to biofuel production, and as such, may have profound impacts on the environment in the future.