UMass Boston

Cell Cycle Control, Regulation of the Cytoskeleton, Growth Responses to Environmental Cues, Plant-Microbe Interactions, Bioremediation Using Plants, Science Education, Training and Mentoring of Students

BA, Biology: University of California Santa Cruz
PhD, Biological Sciences: University of California Irvine
Postdoctoral training: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and University of California Davis

• Colón-Carmona A. (2017) Leaders in STEM, the influence of immigration, and one scientist’s opinion. Medium.com.
• Vega-Sanchez M, Harada J and Colón-Carmona A. (2017) Hawaii, virus-resistant papaya and ukulele: Over the rainbow with Dennis Gonsalves. American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Newsletter, ASPB News, Volume 44, number 5
• Hernández-Vega JC, Cady B, Kayanja G, Mauriello A, Cervantes N, Gillespie A, Lavia L, Trujillo J, Alkio M and Colón-Carmona A. (2017) Detoxification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Arabidopsis thaliana Involves a Putative Flavonol Synthase. J of Hazardous Materials, 321: 268–280
• Montgomery and Colón-Carmona A. (2016) Planting Seeds for a Reflective Harvest: The Role of ASPB in Enhancing Diversity in Plant Biology. American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Newsletter, ASPB News, Volume 43, number 5
• Montgomery and Colón-Carmona A. (2016) Cultivating evidenced-based mentoring and training to enhance diversity in STEM. American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Newsletter, ASPB News, Volume 43, number 3
• Liu H, Weisman D, Tang L, Tan L, Zhang W, Wang Z-H, Huang Y-H, Lin W-X, Liu X-M, and Colón-Carmona A. (2015) Stress signaling in response to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure in Arabidopsis thaliana involves a nucleoside diphosphate kinase, NDPK3. Planta, 241(1): 95-107. doi: 10.1007/s00425-014-2161-8 .
• Micallef SA and Colón-Carmona A. (2013) Genetic and developmental control of rhizosphere bacterial communities. Book chapter in: Molecular Microbial Ecology of the Rhizosphere, Volume 1, First Edition. Edited by Frans J. de Bruijn. Wiley-Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Aguilera AG, Colón-Carmona A, Kesseli R, and Dukes JS. (2011) No Accession-Specific Effect of Rhizosphere Soil Communities on the Growth and Competition of Arabidopsis thaliana Accessions. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27585. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027585
• Weisman D, Liu H, Redfern J, Zhu L, and Colón-Carmona A. (2011) "Novel computational identification of highly selective biomarkers of pollutant exposure". Environmental Science & Technology, 45(12): 5132-8 (This article was selected for journal cover.)
• Weisman D, Alkio M and Colón-Carmona A. (2010) Transcriptional responses to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon induced stress in Arabidopsis thaliana reveal the involvement of hormone and defense signaling pathways. BMC Plant Biology, 10(1): 59
• Micallef S, Channer S, Shiaris M, and Colón-Carmona A. (2009) Plant age and genotype impact the progression of bacterial community succession in the Arabidopsis rhizosphere. Plant Signaling and Behavior, 4(8): 777-780
• accessions on rhizobacterial communities and natural variation in root exudates. Journal of Experimental Botany. 60:1729-42 (This article was selected for a special review within the issue.)
• Liu H, Weisman D, Ye Y-B, Cui B, Huang Y-H, Colón-Carmona A, and Wang Z-H. (2009) An oxidative stress response to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure is rapid and complex in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Science, 176: 375–382
• Alkio M, Tabuchi TM, Wang X and Colón-Carmona A. (2005) Stress responses to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Arabidopsis include growth inhibition and hypersensitive response-like symptoms. Journal of Experimental Botany, 56(421): 2983-94 (This article was selected as the featured article for the cover.)
• Li C, Potuschak T, Colón-Carmona A, Gutiérrez RA and Doerner P. Arabidopsis TCP20 links regulation of growth and cell division control pathways. (2005) Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA 102(36): 12978-12983
• Dubrovsky JG, Rost TL, Colón-Carmona A and Doerner P. (2001) Early primordium morphogenesis during lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Planta, 214: 30-36
• Boisnard-Loriga C, Colón-Carmona A, Bauch M, Hodgeb S, Doerner P, Banchare E, Dumas C, Haseloff J and Berger F. (2001) Dynamic analyses of the expression of the HISTONE::YFP fusion protein in Arabidopsis show that syncytial endosperm is divided in mitotic domains. Plant Cell, 13: 495-509
• Colón-Carmona A, Chen D, Yeh K-C and Abel A. (2000) IAA proteins interact and are phosphorylated by oat phytochrome A in vitro. Plant Physiology, 124: 1728-1738
• Dubrovsky JG, Doerner P, Colón-Carmona A and Rost TL. (2000) Pericycle development and lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology, 124: 1648-1657
• Colón-Carmona A, You R, Haimovitch-Gal T and Doerner P. (1999) Technical Advance: Spatio-temporal analysis of mitotic activity with labile cyclin-GUS fusion protein. Plant J, 20(4): 503-508
• Jongewaard I, Colón A and Fosket DE. (1994) Distribution of transcripts of the tubB1 β-tubulin gene in developing soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) seedling organs. Protoplasma, 183: 77-85
• Fosket DE, Tonoike H and Colón A. (1993) What is the significance of the relatively large tubulin multigene families for plant morphogenesis? In Roubelakis-Angelakis KA, Ed., Plant Morphogenesis: Molecular Approaches, Plenum Press, NY

Adán Colón-Carmona’s research examines the contribution of cell division to the regulation of organ growth during plant development. Specifically, his lab studies how cell cycle checkpoints are influenced by both internal and external cues, including hormones and stress signals. The role of the motor proteins kinesins in regulating mitotic checkpoint is of specific interest. The Colón-Carmona Lab also studies how development in plants is altered in response to exposure to environmental pollutants such as the petroleum-based polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Using molecular genetic approaches, including bioinformatics and systems biology, the lab hopes to identify genes that could potentially be used to bioengineer plants to biodegrade and biodetect PAHs. This technology will be used in collaboration with a third project on root development and how the root microbiome is established both in normal and stressful growth conditions. Finally, he investigates how students learn and succeed in STEM fields, particularly those traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.

• American Society of Plant Biologists.
• Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
• International Golden Key Society.
• Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.

• Doerner P, Lamb C and Colón-Carmona A. (2000) “Method of increasing growth and yields in plants”. Patent number 6166293.

• 2017, Linton-Poodry SACNAS Leadership Institute Fellow. Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.
• 2017, Honored member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
• 2006, Honored member of International Golden Key Society.
• 2003, 2005, Faculty Appreciation Award, recognized by UMass Boston students.
• 1995-1998, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
• 1994, Steinhaus Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Science, UC Irvine.
• 1989, National Chicano Council for Higher Education Graduate Award.
• 1987-1989, NIH Minority Biomedical Research Support Fellow, UC Santa Cruz.