Eva-Sophie Wallner
A novel polarity protein in stomatal development
Polarity proteins orient divisions in stomatal precursor cells to determine stomatal fate and patterning. I discovered a novel polarity protein in Arabidopsis thaliana that polarizes at distinct developmental stages in stomatal precursors. Using genetic tools and confocal microscopy, I study the role and protein dynamics of this novel polarity domain in stomatal development (and beyond).
Polarity proteins and their plasma membrane proteome
To understand the molecular role of polarity proteins in plant development, it is important to characterize their interactome, including their protein-protein interaction partners. I adapted the biotin ligase (BirA)-based proximity labeling method for polarity proteins in the stomatal lineage and identified the respective plasma membrane proteomes. Following up on the top hits obtained by proximity labeling, I study co-localization, protein-protein interaction, and genetics to expand our knowledge on the molecular networks that regulate stomatal development.