Speaker: Bill Gray, University of Minnesota professor in plant and microbial biology

Title: "Regulation of auxin-mediated cell expansion by SAUR-PP2C.D control modules"

Abstract: Hormonally orchestrated patterns of cell division, expansion, and differentiation determine plant form. In particular, the plant hormone auxin plays a profound role in controlling cell expansion. Indeed, the promotive effect of auxin on shoot cell expansion provided the bioassay used to isolate this hormone nearly a century ago. While the mechanisms underlying auxin perception and signaling to regulate transcription have largely been elucidated, how auxin controls cell expansion is only now attaining molecular-level definition. The good news is that the decades-old acid growth theory invoking plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase activation is still useful. The better news is that a mechanistic framework has emerged, wherein auxin-regulated kinases and phosphatases that modulate H⁺-ATPase activity have been identified.  In his seminar, Dr. Bill Gray will discuss the underlying molecular bases of auxin-mediated cell expansion and its regulation by SAUR-PP2C.D phosphatase control modules and TMK protein kinases. 

Biography: After obtaining his bachelor of science in biology from Iowa State University, Dr. Bill Gray received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, where he studied transcriptional regulation of Ty transposable elements under the guidance of Dr. Jan Fassler. Following postdoctoral research on auxin signaling with Dr. Mark Estelle, he joined the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in 2001. His lab studies auxin signaling and response mechanisms, and he is currently a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology.

Host: Dior Kelley, genetics, development and cell biology assistant professor