Rate My Professor Jeffrey Bennetzen

Bennetzen's research centers on plant genome structure and evolution, particularly chromosomal rearrangements and the contributions of transposable elements, as well as the interplay between genome evolution and gene function. His laboratory currently investigates microbe-microbe interactions in plant roots and soil using genetics, genomics, imaging, and microbiomics, alongside genetic diversity in under-utilized crops of the developing world and biomass improvement for biofuels. A pioneer in comparative plant genomics, he identified LTR-retrotransposons as primary drivers of recent plant genome expansions and contractions, helping resolve the C-value paradox, and advocated for sorghum and foxtail millet as model grass genomes. Key publications include "The B73 maize genome: complexity, diversity, and dynamics" (Science, 2009), "The bracteatus pineapple genome and domestication of clonally propagated crops" (Nature Genetics, 2019), and "Polyploid origins, diversification and remarkable subgenome dominance in the world’s largest grasses" (Nature Genetics, 2024). Bennetzen has received major awards such as election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2004), Guggenheim Fellowship (2008), Fulbright Scholar awards (1990 and 2008), American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship (2005), Chinese Academy of Sciences 1000 Talents Award (2012), and Stebbins Medal (shared, 2021). He has led significant grants, including an $11.7 million U.S. Department of Energy project on sorghum mycorrhizal associations (2020).