Marcela Rojas-pierce
professor
Department of Plant & Microbial Biology
North Carolina State University
United States of America
Biography
Courses taught: PB414 Cell Biology (spring), PB780 Plant Molecular Biology (fall).
Research Interest
The vacuole is the major storage compartment in plant cells and has important implications for the nutritional value of agricultural crops. Our research is focused on identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate the biogenesis of the vacuole and the delivery of tonoplast proteins to the vacuolar membrane. We use chemical and classical genetic approaches to characterize these mechanisms in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant vacuoles have additional functions in growth and development. Dynamics of vacuole fusion are also important for critical physiological functions such as the regulation of stomata closing during water deficit and gravitropism. Our lab is starting to elucidate molecular mechanisms of vacuole dynamics that may contribute to responses of plants to these environmental cues.
Publications
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Han SW, Alonso JM, Rojas-Pierce M. 2015. REGULATOR OF BULB BIOGENESIS1 (RBB1) Is Involved in Vacuole Bulb Formation in Arabidopsis. PloS one. 10:e0125621. Article
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Alvarez A, Han SW, Toyota M, Brillada C, Zheng J, Gilroy S and Rojas-Pierce M. 2016. Wortmannin-induced vacuole fusion enhances amyloplast dynamics in Arabidopsis zigzag1 J. Exp. Bot. 67: 6459-6472. Article
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Andres RJ, Coneva V, Frank MH, Tuttle JR, Samayoa LF, Han S-W, Kaur B, Zhu L, Fang H, Bowman DT, Rojas-Pierce M, Haigler CH, Jones DC, Holland JB, Chitwood DH, Kuraparthy V (2016) Modifications to a LATE MERISTEM IDENTITY1 gene are responsible for the major leaf shapes of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). PNAS. Article
