Speaker: Yangnan Gu, assistant professor in plant immunity and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley 

Title: "Toward understanding the nuclear membrane function in plants"

Abstract: The nuclear envelope (NE) represents the hallmark of eukaryotic cells and evolved as an essential protective membrane system as well as a key platform for nuclear signaling, genome organization, cargo transport, mechanosensation, and etc. Despite its importance, the NE composition has been poorly understood in eukaryotic species beyond humans and yeasts. In this talk, I will share our recent progresses in defining the protein landscape of nuclear membrane in plants and in-depth functional investigation of newly identified NE proteins. In addition, I will talk about how the nucleocytoplasmic transport receptors, proteins that carry macromolecules to cross the NE, function as a critical plant immune regulator via modulating biomolecular condensation and protein phase separation of their cargo, representing an ancient function that predates the evolution of eukaryotes. 

Host: Joe Aung, genetics, development and cell biology assistant professor