[Plantsci] SPLS Tuesday Seminar – September 10 - Dr. Jesse Woodson, University of Arizona

[Xiong, Zhongguo - (zxiong)]

Dear all,

Please join us in Marley 230 on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 4:00 PM for a seminar by Dr. Jesse Woodson.

Zoom link<https://arizona.zoom.us/j/83044711714?pwd=IQ994mWIPwbsRKMnfF9sERx5sNtv4m.1>: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/83044711714 (password: SPLS24).
Refreshments will be provided in the Marley Lobby at 3:30 PM.

How plants respond to stress: Cellular signaling and whole-plant coordination
Abstract: To thrive as sessile organisms, plants must be able to sense and respond to their dynamic environments. Plants achieve this by using intracellular signaling networks that initiate local responses to stress. At the same time, these stresses can induce mobile signals that rapidly travel through the plant to control distal responses and stress acclimation. In many cases, stress sensing and signal initiation are controlled by photosynthetic chloroplast organelles. This is due, in part, to photosynthesis naturally producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, and hydrogen peroxide. Under environmental stresses (e.g., drought, excess light, extreme temperatures, and pathogen attack), photosynthetically produced ROS can induce signals controlling gene expression, chloroplast degradation, programmed cell death, and long-distance stress acclimation (a.k.a. systemic acquired acclimation). The existence of such signals has been known for decades, but the molecular mechanisms controlling them have remained obscure. To understand how these signals are initiated, propagated, and ultimately affect local and whole-plant plant physiology, my group has combined genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology to identify and characterize chloroplast ROS signaling pathways. This work involves performing forward genetic screens in Arabidopsis thaliana to identify mutations that block chloroplast ROS signaling. We then identify and characterize the mutated genes to determine their signaling roles. This work has greatly increased our understanding of how these signals are propagated, revealing roles for plastid gene expression, post-translational modifications, and hormone signaling. We have also used microscopy techniques to measure the effects of these signals on cell structure, revealing new roles for cellular turnover machinery. At the same time, my group has begun investigating how these signals are transduced through plants to control distal gene expression and stress acclimation. This has involved developing molecular tools to initiate localized ROS bursts and to measure the propagation of electrochemical waves (ROS and calcium ions) that transmit this information to distal tissue. Such technology can ultimately be used to open bi-directional communication with plants: 1) sentinel plants that report on their health, which can lead to improved crop management strategies, and 2) molecular tools that will allow us to potentiate whole-plant stress responses to improve crop quality and yield.

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Zhongguo Xiong
School of Plant Sciences       BIO5 Institute
BIO5                           Email: zxiong at arizona.edu<mailto:zxiong at arizona.edu>
                               Phone: (520)-621-9869
Forbes 303, P.O. box 210036    Fax: (520)-621-7186
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036          http://ag.arizona.edu/~zxiong
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