Dr. Escobar joined the Biology faculty at CSUSM in Fall 2005 after completing postdoctoral work at Lund University in Sweden. He is primarily interested in plant biotechnology, plant-microbe interactions, and biofuels research. Previous research projects have focused on resistance to crown gall disease and the regulation of alternative respiratory pathways in plants.

B.S. in Biological Sciences, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 1996

Ph.D. in Plant Biology, University of California Davis, 2002

BIOL 210- Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology

BIOT 355- Molecular Biotechnology

BIOL 370A/B- Plant Physiology

BIOT 420- Plant Biotechnology

BIOL 503- Modern Molecular Biology and Genomics

BIOL 560- Seminar in Molecular Cell Biology

Grant, T.*, Sethuraman, A., Escobar, M.A., and Vourlitis, G. L. (2022). Chronic Dry Nitrogen Inputs Alter Soil Microbial Community Composition in Southern California Semi-arid Shrublands. Applied Soil Ecology 176: 104496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2022.104496

Lopatto, D., Rosenwald, A.G., Burgess, R.C., et al. (2022). Student Attitudes Contribute to the Effectiveness of a Genomics CURE. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. 23: e00208-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00208-21 

Ehrary, A.*, Rosas, M.*, Carpinelli, S.*, Davalos, O.*, Cowling, C.*, Fernandez, F.*, and Escobar, M.A. (2020). Glutaredoxin AtGRXS8 Represses Transcriptional and Developmental Responses to Nitrate in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Plant Direct. 00: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.227. *CSUSM student

Rasmusson, A.G., Escobar, M.A., Hao, M., Podgorska, A., and Szal, B. (2020). Mitochondrial NAD(P)H oxidation pathways and nitrate/ammonium redox balancing in plants. Mitochondrion. 53: 158-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2020.05.010

Lopatto, D., Rosenwald, A.G., DiAngelo, J.R. et al. (2020). Facilitating Growth through Frustration: Using Genomics Research in a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. 21: 21.1.6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2005

Escobar, M.A., Morgan, W., Makarevitch, I., and Robertson, S.D. (2019). Tackling “Big Data” with Biology Undergrads: A Simple RNA-seq Data Analysis Tutorial Using Galaxy. CourseSource. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2019.13

Patterson, K.*, Walters, L.A.*, Cooper, A.M.*, Olvera, J.G.*, Rosas, M.A.*, Rasmusson, A.G., and Escobar, M.A. (2016). Nitrate-regulated glutaredoxins control Arabidopsis primary root growth. Plant Physiology. 170: 989-999. *CSUSM student

Walters, L.A.* and Escobar, M.A. (2016). The AtGRXS3/4/5/7/8 glutaredoxin gene cluster on Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 4 is coordinately regulated by nitrate and appears to control primary root growth. Plant Signaling and Behavior. 11: e1171450. *CSUSM student

Araji, S.*, Grammer, T.A.*, Gertzen, R.*, Anderson, S.D.*, Mikulic-Petkovsek, M., Veberic, R., Phu, M.L., Solar, A., Leslie, C.A., Dandekar, A.M., and Escobar, M.A. (2014). Novel roles for the polyphenol oxidase enzyme in secondary metabolism and the regulation of cell death in walnut. Plant Physiology. 164: 1191-1203.

Wallstrom, S.V., Florez-Sarasa, I., Araujo, W.L., Escobar, M.A., Geisler, D.A., Aidemark, M., Lager, I., Fernie, A.R., Ribas-Carbo, M., Rasmusson, A.G. (2014). Suppression of NDA-type alternative mitochondrial NAD(P)H dehydrogenases in Arabidopsis thalianamodifies growth and metabolism, but not high light stimulation of mitochondrial electron transport. Plant and Cell Physiology. 55: 881-896.
 
Wallstrom, S.V., Aidemark, M., Escobar, M.A., and Rasmusson, A.G. (2012). An alternatively spliced domain of the NDC1 NAD(P)H dehydrogenase gene strongly influences the expression of the ACTIN2 reference gene in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Science. 183: 190-196.

Patterson, K.*, Cakmak, T., Cooper A.*, Lager, I., Rasmusson, A.G., and Escobar, M.A. (2010). Distinct signaling pathways and transcriptome response signatures differentiate ammonium- and nitrate-supplied plants. Plant, Cell and Environment. 33: 1486-1501.

Lager, I., Andréasson, O., Dunbar, T.*, Andreasson, E., Escobar, M.A., and Rasmusson, A.G. (2010). Changes in external pH rapidly alter plant gene expression and modulate auxin and elicitor responses. Plant, Cell and Environment. 33: 1513-1528.

Dandekar A.M. and Escobar, M.A. (2010). Transgenic Crops: Perennials. Encyclopedia of Biotechnology in Agriculture and Food. 1: 629-632.

Escobar, M.A., Schilling, A.C.*, Higgins, P., Uratsu, S.L., and Dandekar, A.M. (2008). Characterization of polyphenol oxidase from walnut. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science. 133: 852-858.

Britton, M.T., Escobar, M.A. and Dandekar, A.M. (2008). The Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes oncogenes. In: T. Tzfira and V. Citovsky, eds. Agrobacterium: From Biology to Biotechnology. Springer Publications, New York. pp. 524-563.

Rasmusson, A.G. and Escobar, M.A. (2007). Light and diurnal regulation of plant respiratory gene expression. Physiol. Plant. 129: 57-67.

Escobar, M.A., Geisler, D.A., and Rasmusson, A.G. (2006). Reorganization of the alternative pathways of the  Arabidopsis respiratory chain by nitrogen supply: opposing effects of ammonium and nitrate. Plant J. 45: 775-788.

Escobar, M.A. and Rasmusson A.G. (2005). Photocontrol of respiratory type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenase genes: Cryptochrome, but not hy5, is a critical component of light signaling. In: A. van der Est and D. Bruce, eds. Photosynthesis: Fundamental aspects to global perspectives. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas. pp. 909-911.

Escobar, M.A., Franklin, K.A., Salter, M.G., Whitelam, G.C., and Rasmusson, A.G. (2004). Light regulation of the Arabidopsis respiratory chain: multiple discrete photoreceptor responses contribute to induction of type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenase genes. Plant Physiol. 136: 2710-2721.

Escobar, M.A., Civerolo, E.L., Polito, V.S., Pinney, K.A., and Dandekar, A.M. (2003). Characterization of oncogene-silenced transgenic plants: Implications for Agrobacterium biology and post-transcriptional gene silencing. Mol. Plant Pathol. 4: 57-65.

Escobar, M.A. and Dandekar, A.M. (2003). Agrobacterium tumefaciens as an agent of disease. Trends Plant Sci. 8: 380-386.

Escobar, M.A. and Dandekar, A.M. (2003). Post-transcriptional gene silencing in plants. In: J. Barciszewski and V. Erdmann, eds. Noncoding RNAs: Molecular Biology and Molecular Medicine. Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, Texas. pp. 129-140.

Escobar, M.A., Leslie, C.A., McGranahan, G.H., and Dandekar, A.M. (2002) Silencing crown gall disease in walnut (Juglans regia L.). Plant Sci. 163: 591-597.

Escobar, M.A. and Dandekar, A.M. (2002). Transgenic Crops (Perennials). In: D. Pimentel ed. Encyclopedia of Pest Management. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York. pp. 850-851.

Escobar, M.A., Civerolo E.L., Summerfelt, K.R., and Dandekar, A.M. (2001). RNAi-mediated oncogene silencing confers resistance to crown gall tumorigenesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 98: 13437-13442.

Escobar, M.A., Park, J., Polito, V.S., Leslie, C.A., Uratsu, S.L., McGranahan, G.H. and Dandekar A.M. (2000). Using GFP as a Scorable Marker in Walnut Somatic Embryo Transformation. Ann. Bot. 85: 831-835.

Escobar, M.A. and Dandekar, A.M. (2000). Development of Insect Resistance in Fruit and Nut Tree Crops. In: S.M. Jain and S.C. Minocha, eds. Molecular Biology of Woody Plants. Vol. 2. Kluwer Publications, Dordrecht, Netherlands. pp. 395-417. 

*CSUSM student