Description of Research Expertise

Research Interests
Genetic regulation of the juvenile-to-adult transition in plants
The developmental function of RNAi in plants

Key words: miRNA, siRNA, RNAi, developmental genetics, developmental timing, plants.

Description of Research
I am primarily in the mechanism of the juvenile-to-adult transition in plants. We have approached this problem by identifying and characterizing mutations that affect the timing of this transition. Interestingly, most of the genes identified in these screens regulate the biogenesis or function of miRNAs or a novel class of endogenous siRNAs we discovered, called “trans-acting siRNAs”. We are studying the function of genes involved in the biogenesis of trans-acting siRNAs, and are trying to identify the targets and developmental functions of these regulatory siRNAs. Several ta-siRNA targets of already been identified and are being studied to determine their role in the juvenile-to-adult transition.

Rotation Projects
1. Participate in mutant screens for phase change mutations
2. Positionally clone newly identified genes
3. Characterize the molecular and developmental phenotype of phase change mutations.

Lab personnel:
Stewart Gillmor, Postdoctoral Fellow
Mee Yeon Park, Postdoctoral Fellow
Mike Smith, Graduate Student
Dennie Tompers, Graduate Student
Matthew Willmann, Postdoctoral Fellow
Gang Wu, Postdoctoral Fellow