The ability to respond to a vast array of external and internal cues such as light, gravity, and hormones is essential for plant growth, development, and survival. We are interested in understanding the mechanisms by which plants perceive signals and convert this information into physiological responses. The signal we have been focusing on is the plant hormone ethylene (C2H4), a simple gaseous molecule that has profound effects on many aspects of plant growth and development, including fruit ripening, senescence, abscission and responses to biotic and abiotic stress. Our research utilizes a combination of molecular genetics, cell biology to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of ethylene signaling using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. With collaborators, we have also used proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and electrophysiology.

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We are also interested in the evolutionary history of ethylene as a plant hormone. Using a combination of transcriptomics and functional studies in freshwater Charophycean green algae (the closest living relatives of land plants), we were able to show conservation of the ethylene signaling pathway for at least 450 million years.

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More recently, we have obtained evidence that the immediate precursor of ethylene, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), has signaling functions that are independent of its role in ethylene biosynthesis. We are interested in identifying ACC responses in various model plants and elucidating the ACC signaling pathway using approaches similar to those used above.