Plant cells typically contain a large central vacuole that is responsible for a variety of processes including protein degradation, storage of metabolites and proteins, maintenance of turgor pressure and cell homeostasis. Upon exposure to certain stress conditions, non-essential cell components are broken down in the vacuole in order to recycle their constituents and maintain essential functions. This occurs by autophagy, a process by which portions of the cytoplasm are surrounded by membrane and delivered to the vacuole for degradation. My lab is studying a family of genes that is required for autophagy, and using global gene expression analysis to identify new components of this pathway.

Most vacuolar proteins are synthesized at the endoplasmic reticulum and are transported through the endomembrane system in small transport vesicles. We have identified several proteins that may be involved in vesicle transport to the vacuole, and are now characterizing their functions using biochemical and genetic approaches.