Assistant Professor, Northern New Mexico College
Website
Our laboratory uses a combination of genetic, cellular and genomic approaches to fully understand the relationship between nuclear structure and function in land plants. Cajal bodies (CBs) are evolutionarily conserved nuclear structures that have been implicated in the assembly and metabolism of several kinds of non-coding RNAs, such as the telomerase RNA component, small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and small interfering RNAs. We are taking advantage of the powerful genetic tools available in Arabidopsis thaliana and Physcomitrella patens to understand the role(s) of the Cajal body in the biogenesis of non-coding RNAs, with a specific focus on interaction(s) between this nuclear body and the splicing ribonucleoprotein complexes at the organismal level.
We are interested in studying the different RNA profiles (coding and non-coding) of a set of mutants with abnormal nuclear structure. Specifically, we are focused in studying a set of RNA binding proteins such as coilin and the Survival of Motor Neuron (SMN). SMN is key in the biogenesis of snRNPs and in the metabolism of different types of RNA during development. Thus, in order to discover novel functions for SMN in land plants, we are studying the expression profiles of our Arabidopsis smn mutant so we can have deep coverage of the alterations on the RNA profiles in 10 days old seedlings (continuous light, 25°C).
Materials are under development.
Materials are under development.