Signalling and cell walls

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My research program focuses on two aspects of plant biology: how plants use specific signaling modules to detect and respond to environmental and developmental cues, how plants build their complex polysaccharide cell walls, and how these two phenomena are connected. The cellular mechanisms by which plants successfully respond to environmental challenges are controlled by signal switching mechanisms such as protein phosphorylation/de-phosphorylation cycles, catalyzed by protein kinases. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family of enzymes plays a central role in these switching systems, but we know little about the biological functions of the Group D sub-family of MAPKs. We will use a combination of genetics, cell biology, genomics and biochemistry to identify the full range of cellular processes that Group D MPKs are controlling in Arabidopsis.