 |
Home |
Research Interests of Participating Faculty
Alejandro Calderón-Urrea, Biology.
The long range scientific goal of this laboratory is to understand
the process of developmentally regulated programmed cell death in
plants. RNA in situ hybridization is used to monitor the expression
of putative plant cell death genes such as At-Dad1, and the TUNEL
assay is used to monitor programmed cell death in different tissues.
We also address whether or not animal cell death genes function in
plant systems by using an agro-inoculation approach in tobacco
plants. We monitor animal cell death gene expression in plants using
RT-PCR, and also conduct enzymatic complementation assays to detect
the activity of animal cell death proteins in the heterologous plant
environment. Finally, this laboratory is interested in the potential
use of animal cell death genes to protect plants against plant
pathogenic nematodes. To this end we are generating transgenic
plants expression nematodes cell death genes, which will induce the
death of pathogenic nematode upon their attack of the plant.
Students will be involved in all aspects of the research and will be
assigned independent research projects that are overseen by a
research associate and a postdoctoral scientist. We collaborate with
Dr. Valerie Williamson (UC-Davis), Dr. Andrea Skantar (Nematology
lab, USDA), and Lieve Gheysen (Ghent University, Belgium).
[Prev <] [Research]
[> Next] |
