Employment History
The regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level is important in many aspects of plant growth and development, and plant response to pathogens and the environment in which they grow. Knowledge of the complexity of how genes are expressed in different processes will provide understanding of the genetic basis of important phenotypic traits.
The importance of post-transcriptional gene regulation is growing exponentially. Clearly gene expression control is complex and dynamic, involving different RNA and RNP species and interactions among different RNA processing pathways. In addition, the structure and organisation of the nucleus into different regions and compartments is essential for the dynamic assembly and transport of complexes to drive such interactions. Currently, our main interests in gene expression are in alternative splicing, the functions of the plant nucleolus in mRNA biogenesis and the gene organisation and function of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs).
We have studied aspects of plant intron splicing for many years demonstrating exon definition and the roles of branchpoints, polypyrimidine tracts and UA-rich signals. We are using our expertise on splicing analysis to study mechanisms and consequences of alternative splicing, and are establishing systems to study multiple splicing events simultaneously. In particular, we are interested in how alternative splicing affects gene expression during development and in response to stress, and how it is controlled by a range of trans-acting factors.
We identified exon junction complex proteins in a proteomic analysis of plant nucleoli (with Professor Peter Shaw, John Innes Centre). We have found mRNAs to be present in the nucleolus and an enrichment of aberrant mRNAs. We are currently examining what these observations mean in terms of the function of the nucleolus in mRNA biogenesis and the link to alternative splicing and mRNA turnover.
SnoRNAs are one of the best studied non-coding RNA groups. The majority of plant snoRNA genes are organized in gene clusters and expressed as polycistronic precursor snoRNAs (pre-snoRNAs). We are examining “orphan” snoRNAs and the effects which these may have on mRNA expression and stability.
Key Collaborators