Dr. Martin Bukovac Professor Distinguished Professor Emeritus A390B Plant and Soil Sciences Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1325 Phone: 517/355-5191, ext 393 Fax: 517/353-0890 Email: bukovacm@msu.edu

Education:

B.S. (with Honors), 1951, Michigan State University

M.S., 1954, Michigan State University

Ph.D., 1957, Michigan State University

Postdoctoral Study, 1965-66, Oxford and Bristol Universities

Dr. agr. honoris causa, 1995, University of Bonn

Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Martin J. Bukovac is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, where he conducts basic and applied research on plant growth regulators and their uptake by plants. His research has lead to patents and new practices in the control of flower and fruit development.

Born in Illinois, Dr. Bukovac grew up in Michigan and attended Michigan State University, earning a B.S. degree in horticulture with honors in 1951 and the Ph.D. in 1957. He was a National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Oxford and Bristol Universities in England. At MSU, he has conducted research on the role of plant hormones on flower formation and on fruit growth and development, as well as on the chemistry, structure, and permeability of the plant cuticle, considered to be the prime barrier to penetration of foliar-applied chemicals.

Dr. Bukovac was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1983 and has been cited for his work on numerous occasions by MSU faculty and by fellow plant scientists nationally. In June 1995, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the University of Bonn and was selected for the Humboldt Prize for Senior Scientist by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.

Current Research Interest:

Dr. Bukovac's current research interest is in increasing the efficiency of pesticide application, how spray deposits are formed and mechanisms by which chemicals enter into plant tissue through the cuticle. A second interest and research program focuses on understanding flowering and fruit growth processes in tree fruits and their control by growth regulating chemicals.

Selected Research Publications:

Nakayama, M.T. Yokota, R.Sohma, L. N. Mander, B. Twitchin, H. Komatsu, H. Matsui, and M.J. Bukovac.1996.

Gibberellins in immature seed of prunus cerasus: structure, determination and synthesis of gibberellin GA 95 (1,2-didehydro-GA20). Phytochemistry 42: 913-920.

• Black, B.L., M.J. Bukovac and J. Hull, Jr.  1995.
• Effect of spray volume and time of NAA application of fruit size and cropping of Redchief 'Delicious' apple.  Sci. Hortic. 64:253-264.
• Petracek, P.D., R.G. Fader, M. Knoche and M.J. Bukovac.
• Surfactant-enhanced penetration of benzyladenine through isolated tomato fruit cuticular membranes.  J. Agric. Food Chem. 46(6):2346-2352.
• Reichard, D.L., J.A. Cooper, M.J. Bukovac and R.D. Fox.  1998.
• Using a videographic system to assess spray droplet impaction and reflection from leaf and artificial surfaces.  Pestic. Sci. 53:290-299.
• Bukovac, M.J.  1998.
• The plant surface: a defining factor in performance of plant bioregulators.  In: J.L. Guardiola, J.L. Garcia Martinez and J.D. Quinlan (Eds.), Proc. Eight Int. Symp. Plant Regulators.  Fruit Prod. Acta. Hortic. 463:23-28.
• Stopar, M., B.L. Black,  M.J. Bukovac.  1997.
• The effect of NAA and BA on carbon dioxide assimilation by shoot leaves of spur-type 'Delicious' and 'Empire' apple trees.  J. Amer. Soc. HOrt. Sci. 122(6):837-840.
• Bukovac, M.J., J.M. Leon, J.A. Cooper, R.E. Whitmoyer, D.L. Reichard and R.D. Brazee.  1995.
• Spray droplet: plant surface interaction and deposit formation as related to surfactants and spray volume.  In:  R.E. Gaskin (ed.), Fourth INternational Symposium on Adjuvants for Agrochemicals, pp. 177-185, Bul. 193.  New Zealand Forest Research Institute, Roturua, New Zealand.