Back to full list
|
|
Research Interests
Plant Reproduction
Research Summary
Highly unsaturated lipid molecules constitute approximately 50% of the hydrophobic membrane barriers, which delineate the compartments of plant cells, and they are major components of the light harvesting membranes of chloroplasts. Many lines of evidence indicate that these lipids are critically important for many membrane functions and, thus, for the proper growth and development of plants. In addition, lipid oils are a major form of carbon storage in seeds, and these vegetable oils have many commercial applications.
One of the research programs in my laboratory encompasses a diverse set of projects that have at their base our investigation of the biosynthesis and function of membrane and storage lipids in plants using Arabidopsis as a model. These projects include the isolation and characterization of genes that control the elongation, desaturation, or other modifications of fatty acid. The genes have been used to produce transgenic plants with altered membrane compositions or improved vegetable oils. We have several research projects that focus on the roles of membrane lipids in the cell biology and physiology of plants using a large number of mutants with alterations in the lipid composition of their membranes. In addition, our isolation of jasmonate-deficient and jasmonate-responsive mutants of Arabidopsis has allowed us to make new discoveries about the involvement of jasmonate in pollen development, plant fertility and plant defense. These discoveries have wide implications for plant biology in areas ranging from hybrid breeding to crop protection.
Research Publications
Thines, B., Katsir, L., Melotto, M., Niu, Y., Mandaokar, A., Liu, G., Nomura, K., He, S.Y., Howe, G.A. and Browse, J. 2007 JAZ Repressor Proteins are Targets of SCFCOI1 During Jasmonate Signaling. Nature 448:661-665.
Mandaokar, A., Thines, B., Shin, B., Lange, B.M., Choi, G., Koo, Y.J., Yoo, Y.J., Choi, Y.D., Choi, G. and Browse, J. 2006 Transcriptional Regulators of Stamen Development in Arabidopsis Identified by Transcriptional Profiling. Plant J. 46: 984-1008.
Kubagawa, H.M., Watts, J.L., Corrigan, C., Edmonds, J., Sztul, E., Browse, J. and Miller, M.A. 2006 Oocyte Signals Derived from Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Control Sperm Recruitment in vivo. Nature Cell Biol. 8:1143-1148.
Metz , J. G., Roessler, P., Facciotti, D., Levering, C., Dittrich, F., Lassner, M., Valentine, R., Lardizabal, K., Domergue, F., Yamada, A., Yazawa, K., Knauf, V., and Browse, J. 2001 Polyketide Synthases Produce Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Both Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. Science 293:290-293.
Stintzi, A., and Browse, J. 2000 The Arabidopsis Male-Sterile Mutant, opr3, Lacks the 12-Oxophytodienoic Acid Reductase Required for Jasmonate Synthesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:10624-10630.