Seminars

 Our research is focused on plant cellular dynamics. We are particularly interested in trafficking pathways involved in polysaccharide deposition and plant stress response. We employ multidisciplinary research approaches, including chemical biology, organelle proteomics and glycomics, genetics, quantitative advanced imaging, and modeling.

 In plant cytokinesis, a process fundamentally different from cytokinesis in animals, de novo formation of a cell plate that is maturing into a new cell wall partitions the cytoplasm of the dividing cell. The development of new cell walls during division is of profound importance to all plant life on Earth, yet fundamental questions remain unanswered. Taking a chemical biology approach, combined with 4D imaging and genetics, we aim in the development of a comprehensive spatiotemporal model of cell plate formation. Further our investigation of the freshwater alga Penium margaritaceum, with a cell wall composition similar to that of land plants, we identified the evolutionarily conserved role of polysaccharides during cytokinesis.   

 Using a combination of vesicle proteomic/glycomic analyses we identified both protein and polysaccharide cargo transported through the trans-Golgi network, some of which we further pursue using functional studies. This will allow us and others to investigate how subcellular cargo changes during plant development or in response to environmental stimuli.