I am a graduate student in Mark Estelle’s lab at UCSD (http://www-biology.ucsd.edu/labs/estelle/index.html) and my co-advisor is Elizabeth Komives in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (http://chem-faculty.ucsd.edu/komives/).

My current research is focused on characterizing two members of the auxin receptor family. The phytohormone auxin is an essential component to plant growth and development, playing a role from the early stages of embryogenesis to the senescent plant. The auxin receptor family is comprised of six members; TIR1 and AFB1-5. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the AFB4/5 clade diverged from the other members before seed plant radiation. The conservation of these receptors across seed plants suggests that they maintain distinct functions. Picloram, a synthetic auxin, works specifically through AFB4/5, thus revealing structural differences of these receptors. A biochemical and genetic analysis of these receptors may reveal distinct roles or substrates important for the auxin response.

Publications:

Gennidakis S., Rao S., Greenham K., Uhrig RG., O’Leary B., Snedden WA., Lu C., Plaxton WC. (2007). Bacterial- and plant-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase polypeptides interact in the hetero-oligomeric Class-2 PEPC complex of developing castor oil seeds. Plant J. 52(5): 839-49.

Surzycki, R., Greenham, K., Wagner, R.E. and Surzycki, S. (2009). Factors effecting expression of vaccines in microalgae. Biologicals 37:133-138.