Plant Biology Colloquium | The checkpoint role of protein ubiquitylation and degradation in flowering plant development, April 14

The Environmental and Plant Biology Colloquium Series features Dr. Zhihua Hua discussing “The checkpoint role of protein ubiquitylation and degradation in flowering plant development” on Friday, April 14, at 11:50 am in Porter Hall, Room 104.

Hua is Associate Professor of Environmental & Plant Biology at Ohio University.

Host: Dr. Zhihua Hua

Abstract:  In the crowded and confined space of cell, numerous proteins work collaboratively to regulate cell growth and development.  It is estimated that there are over 100 billion of protein molecules in one single human cell, and so are in single plant cells.  How such a large cohort of proteins is organized and managed is key to maintain intracellular proteome homeostasis for cell survival.  One mechanism required is the timely removal of any outdated and/or abnormal proteins, which is primarily done by the ubiquitin (Ub)-26S proteasome system (UPS).  To understand the breadth and depth of the UPS functions, my lab is interested in its switch role in flowering plant development using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model.  In this talk, I will discuss our recent studies in 1) transcriptome regulation of UPS members across different developmental stages of Arabidopsis, 2) development of proteomic approaches to studying the ubiquitylation and Skp1-Cul1-F-box-mediated regulatory proteomes, 3) establishment of core F-box-controlled developmental phenomes, and 4) fine tuning a reciprocal degradation mechanism between the proteasome and autophagy pathways in seed development.  Our studies unraveled several exciting directions in understanding the checkpoint role of protein ubiquitylation and degradation in flowering plant development.