2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Harry Klee received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts. He did postdoctoral research at the University of Washington where he studied the mechanisms of Agrobacterium crown gall formation. He then worked at Monsanto from 1984-1995 where he worked on development of herbicide resistant crops. There he initiated work to use transgenic plants to understand the biology of phytohormones. In 1995, he took an endowed chair at the University of Florida where, in addition to his ethylene research, he established a program to understand the biochemistry and genetics underlying flavor of fruit crops. Working in collaboration with sensory and food scientists, his laboratory has identified the chemicals that define good tomato flavor. He has used large-scale genomics approaches to understand why modern commercial tomatoes have lost good flavor and to develop a genetic roadmap for recovering heirloom flavor. Dr. Klee was elected as a AAAS Fellow in 2009 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.