Kristen Clermont, Ph.D.

I am a molecular plant biologist; I earned my PhD at Virginia Tech where I studied the way parasitic plants steal sugar and amino acids from their plant hosts. Following my doctoral studies, I worked as a Postdoctoral ORISE Fellow working with the Agricultural Research Center (ARS) of the USDA in New Orleans. At the ARS, I used protein mass spectrometry and genetic information to study the way pecan allergens accumulate in pecan kernels during development and deteriorate with treatments after harvesting. 

Subsequently, I moved back to Virginia and worked as a Teacher-Scholar postdoctoral fellow at James Maddison University (JMU). There I studied plant β-amylases, enzymes that digest starch, and taught Plant Physiology and the laboratory sections for introductory biology and genetics. 

My research interests focus on the way the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana use Late Embryogenesis Abundant Proteins to defend itself from abiotic stresses like salt, temperature extremes, and drought. 

Areas of Expertise

Plant Physiology

Genetics

Education

PhD, Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science, Virginia Tech

BS, Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech

Teaching

BIO 205: Phage Hunting

BIO 250: Phage Genomics

BIO 310: Genetics

BIL 412: Biochemistry lab

Publications

Mattison C., Dupre R., Clermont K., Gibbons J., Yu, J.  (2024).  Proteomic characterization of peanut flour fermented by Rhizopus oryzae.  Heliyon. 10(15), e34793.

Clermont K., Graham C., Lloyd S., Grimm C., Randall J., and Mattison C.  (2023).  Proteomic analysis of pecan (Cary illinoinensis) nut development.  Foods, 12(4).

Lovell J. T., Bentley N., Bhattarai G., Jenkins J. W., Sreedasyam A., Alarcon Y., Bock C., Boston L.B., Carlson J., Cervantes K., Clermont K., Krom N., Kubenka K., Mamidi S., Mattison C., Monteros M., Pisani C., Plott C., Rajasekar S., Shadgou Rhein H., Rohla C., Song M., St. Hilaire R., Shu S., Wells L., Wang X., Webber J., Heerema R. J., Klein P., Conner P., Grauke L.J., Grimwood J., Schmutz J., Randall J. J.  (2021).  A chromosome-scale pan-genome to accelerate breeding in the outbred and diverse tree nut crop, pecan.  Nat commun., 12(1), 4125.

Gu X., Chen I.G., Harding S., Nyamdari B., Ortega M., Clermont K., Westwood J., Tsai C.J.  (2021).  Plasma membrane phylloquinone biosynthesis in nonphotosynthetic parasitic plants.  Plant Physiology.

Mattison C., Aryana K., Clermont K., Prestenburg E., Lloyd S., Grimm C., Adhikari A.  (2020).  Physiochemical and immunological analysis of a commercial cashew nut-based yogurt.  Int. J. Mol. Sci., 21(21).

Clermont K., Wang Y., Liu S., Yang Z., dePamphilis C., Yoder J., Colláková E., and Westwood J.  (2019).  Comparative metabolomics of early development of the parasitic plants Phelipanche aegyptiaca and Triphysaria versicolor.  Metabolites, 9(6).

Lee S., Ishiga Y., Clermont K., Mysore K.  (2013).  Coronatine inhibits stomatal closure and delays hypersensitive response cell death induced by nonhost bacterial pathogens.  PeerJ, 1, 34.