Google Scholar
Patrick Horn, Ph.D., received his B.S. degree in Biochemistry from The University
of Texas at Austin in 2008. He then earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2013 at UNT,
under the supervision of Dr. Kent Chapman, completing his dissertation entitled "Development
of Enabling Technologies to Visualize the Plant Lipidome." As a postdoctoral research
associate, he worked with both Dr. John Ohlrogge and Dr. Christoph Benning at Michigan
State University. In 2018, he joined the Dept of Biology faculty at East Carolina
University where he started his own research lab. His past research has led to several
significant discoveries, across multiple hierarchical scales, for example revealing
the spatial distribution of lipids in plant tissues, new lipid droplet-associated
proteins with novel metabolic and developmental functions, mechanistic insights into
the metabolism and regulation of lipid metabolism in seeds and vegetative tissues,
improvements in engineering high-value oils, and insights into photosynthetic membrane
remodeling and stress responses. In 2022, Dr. Horn joined the Dept of Biological Sciences
and the BioDiscovery Institute at UNT. Dr. Horn's lab at UNT will center on the identification
and characterization of proteins involved in bioproduct metabolism with an emphasis
on plant lipid pathways. Acquired knowledge from these projects will be used in translational
efforts to crop systems with an emphasis on understanding the impacts of dynamic environmental
conditions on bioproduct metabolism.
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Plant bioproducts for human health and industrial applications
- Structural characterization of plant enzymes
- Redox processes in photosynthetic membranes
- Plant productivity in enhanced-stress environments
FOR PROSPECTIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS
Apply to the Graduate Program in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
CURRENT GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS
- United Stated Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Elucidating Cyclic Fatty Acid Biosynthesis and Compartmentalization to Improve Cottonseed
Value (PI Patrick Horn; Kent Chapman, Co-PI). 3/15/2022- 3/14/2025.
- United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute for Food and Agriculture,
Equipment Grants Program (USDA NIFA EGP). A Laser Microdissection System to Enhance
Agricultural and Food Research in the North Texas and Southern Oklahoma Region (PI
Brian G. Ayre; Roisin C. McGarry, Vanessa M. Macias, Patrick J. Horn, and Jyoti Shah
Co-PIs). 9/1/2023-8/31/2027.
RECENT SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS
- Cannon AE, Horn PJ (2023). The Molecular Frequency, Conservation and Role of Reactive
Cysteines in Plant Lipid Metabolism. Plant and Cell Physiology- Special Issue in Plant
and Algal Lipids. Pcad163 doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcad163
- Horn PJ, Chapman KD (2023). Imaging plants in situ. Journal of Experimental Botany-
Special Issue in Plant Metabolism. erad423 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad423
- Borisjuk L, Horn P, Chapman, K, Jakob PM, Gündel A, Rolletschek H (2023). Seeing plants
as never before. New Phytologist Tansley Review 238, 1775-1794. doi.org/10.1111/nph.18871
- Hoh D, Horn P, Kanazawa A, Froehlich JE, Cruz J, Tessmer O, Hall D, Yin L, Benning
C, Kramer, DM (2022). Genetically-determined variations in photosynthesis indicate
roles for specific fatty acid species in chilling responses. Plant, Cell & Environment
45, 1682-1697. doi.org/10.1111/pce.14313
- Armstrong NM, Spragley KJ, Chen WM, Hsu FC, Brewer MS, Horn PJ, Williams SR, Sale
MM, Worrall BB, Keene KL (2021). Multi-omic analysis of stroke recurrence in African
Americans from the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention (VISP) clinical trial. PLOS One. 16, e0247257. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247257
- Horn, PJ (2021). Where Do the Electrons Go? How numerous redox processes drive phytochemical
diversity. Phytochemistry Reviews, 20, 367-407. doi.org/10.1007/s11101-020-09738-w
- Horn PJ, Smith DM, Clark RT, Froehlich JF, and Benning C. PEROXIREDOXIN Q Stimulates
the Activity of the Chloroplast 16:1Δ3trans Fatty Acid Desaturase FAD4 (2020). The
Plant Journal 56, 2457-2464. doi:10.1111/tpj.14657.
- Zienkiewicz A, Zienkiewicz K, Poliner E, Pulman JA, Du Z-Y, Stefano G, Tsai C-H, Horn
PJ, Feussner I, Farre EM, Childs K, Brandizzi F, Benning C (2020). The Microalga Nannochloropsis
during transition from quiescence to autotrophy in response to nitrogen availability.
Plant Physiology 192, 1043-1055. doi.org/10.1104/pp.19.00854.
PATENTS
- US Patent # 10,238,056- HIGH OLEIC SEED OIL TRAIT IN COTTON VARIETIES TO ELEVATE THE
OLEIC ACID CONTENT OF COTTONSEED OIL. Chapman, Kent Dean (Denton, TX); Horn, Patrick
(Holt, MI); Sturtevant, Drew (Southlake, TX); Kennedy, Christopher (Ft. Worth, TX).
Issued March 26, 2019