UPS / F-box Biology
The ubiquitin-26S proteasome system regulates diverse cellular processes in eukaryotes. In plants, this system is especially large and complex, with more than 1,500 predicted components. Our lab studies how SCF ubiquitin ligases and F-box proteins regulate plant development, including seed development, germination, and early seedling growth. Training areas: genetics, molecular biology, CRISPR, genotyping, protein degradation assays, Arabidopsis development.
Autophagy and Proteostasis
The ubiquitin-proteasome system and autophagy pathway do not function independently. These two proteolytic systems interact to maintain protein homeostasis and regulate plant responses to developmental and environmental signals. Our lab investigates how ubiquitin-dependent mechanisms connect proteasomal degradation with selective autophagy. Training areas: protein biochemistry, autophagy markers, microscopy, stress biology.
Chloroplast Signaling
Chloroplast function depends on coordinated communication between the chloroplast and nucleus. Our recent work focuses on how cytoplasmic protein degradation regulates nucleus-encoded chloroplast proteins before or during plastid import. We ask how these degradation pathways affect chloroplast function, retrograde signaling, seed germination, and early seedling development. Training areas: chloroplast biology, RNA editing, transcriptomics, seedling phenotyping, microscopy.
Comparative Genomics & Transcriptomics
Gene duplication has greatly expanded many plant gene families. The unusually large size of the plant ubiquitin system provides an excellent model for studying how duplication, sequence divergence, and regulatory changes shape genome function. We combine comparative genomics, transcriptomics, and experimental validation to predict and test functions of ubiquitin-system genes. Training areas: bioinformatics, comparative genomics, RNA-seq, functional prediction.
Synthetic Biology & Protein Engineering
The rapid and selective action of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation offers opportunities to engineer new regulatory circuits in plants. As an emerging direction, our lab is interested in using ubiquitin and selective autophagy pathways to control protein abundance, gene expression, and metabolic activities. Training areas: CRISPR-based genome editing and gene regulation, including knockout, knock-in, knockdown/CRISPRi, and activation/CRISPRa; molecular cloning, protein engineering, synthetic biology, and plant transformation.
