Melissa Lehti-Shiu
Michigan State University, MI·Plant Science & Agriculture
Genes rarely act alone: the effect of one gene often depends on another, and both can depend on the environment. Learning these combined effects of nature and nurture could help breed crops that stay productive under more extreme conditions.
- Fields
Plant Science & Agriculture
Genetics
Computer Science
- Topics
Arabidopsis thaliana
plant genetics
genetic interactions
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Measure genetic interactions between 150–200 pairs of Arabidopsis protein kinase genes by phenotyping single and double mutants under 3–5 temperature regimes, using AI-based trait measurement.
- Build machine learning models that predict environment-specific genetic interactions by integrating multi-omics data with existing interaction data from Arabidopsis, yeast and worm.
- Validate model predictions experimentally, refine the models, and use model interpretation methods to identify molecular features that make gene interactions depend on environment.
More about the research
It is hard to study, though. There are millions of possible gene pairs, and an interaction found in one setting may not hold in another.
Why it matters
Knowing which gene pairs shape plant survival under different temperatures could help predict gene functions in both model and crop plants. It could also supply candidate genes for engineering crops that stay productive and resilient as growing conditions become more extreme.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
John Fowler
Oregon State University, OR·Plant Science & Agriculture
Measure gene-specific contributions to pollen fitness for several hundred maize genes, using fluorescently marked Ds-GFP insertion mutants and the EarVision automated imaging and computer vision phenotyping system.
Kerry Geiler-Samerotte
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Evolve thousands of DNA-barcoded yeast lineages across subtly different temperatures to measure how the genetic basis of adaptation and the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) shift along the gradient.
Federica Brandizzi
Michigan State University, MI·Biology
Determine how IRE1, the most conserved UPR sensor and both a protein kinase and an RNA-cutting enzyme, drives protein phosphorylation changes that support growth and relieve ER stress in Arabidopsis.
The school
Michigan State University: 28 labs on PI Pages, $932M a year on research, 555 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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