@drheatherini
Assistant Professor of Biology at Syracuse University. Scientific interests: intrinsically disordered proteins, biomolecular condensates, and plant cell and developmental biology. Other interests: running, dancing, and getting lost in fiction.
More broadly, they suggest that phase separation may serve as a sensing and actuation mechanism to ensure proper expression of developmental regulators under seasonally appropriate conditions.
Additionally, we found that SUF4 condensates can colocalize with other known FLC regulators, including FRI and ELF7. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that SUF4 phase separation provides a physical mechanism for regulating FLC expression and flowering.
By progressively altering SUF4’s phase behavior, we found that we could tune SUF4's ability to bind the FLC promoter, modulate FLC transcription, and ultimately flowering time.
TL;DR: We show that the IDP SUF4 forms temperature-dependent nuclear condensates in plants that correlate with transcriptional activation of the floral repressor FLC.
Our SUF4 condensation paper is finally out! cell.com/cell-reports... Thank you to everyone who has scientifically, mentally, and emotionally supported my co-authors and me over the years. Below is a summary of the work-- we hope you enjoy our findings!
Calling all plant cell and molecular biologists! My colleague Dr. Eundeok Kim is looking to hire a creative postdoc to investigate how epigenetic and genetic states shape cell fate decisions in plants! www.sujobopps.com/postings/108...
Happy New Year! Looking forward to doing some science with you all!
Reminder that if disordered proteins are your thing, this starter pack exists (and I try to update it as best I can as new folks reach out/I see them!) 🍝
go.bsky.app/J23B51L
Are you interested in the role of protein condensation in plant biology? Come work with me at Syracuse University!
Are you interested in the role of protein condensation in plant biology? Come work with me at Syracuse University!