Research in our lab aims at understanding the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive and respond to environmental light and temperature changes. Our current projects focus on the signaling mechanism of the phytochrome B photoreceptor and thermosensor.
Our goal is also to utilize phytochrome B signaling and environmentally-regulated seedling developmental reprogramming in Arabidopsis thaliana as a genetic model to interrogate two poorly understood basic principles in cell signaling: 1) functional dynamics of subnuclear membraneless organelles in cell signaling and nuclear gene regulation, and 2) nuclear control of organellar gene expression via nucleus-to-plastid anterograde signaling.
The outcomes of our research elucidate the basic mechanism of phenotypic plasticity in plants and evolutionarily conserved principles of nuclear organization and nucleus-organelle communication in eukaryotes.