Elizabeth Waters
San Diego State University, CA·Plant Science & Agriculture
Mitochondria are the cell's energy factories. In plants they are easy to overlook next to photosynthesis.
- Fields
Plant Science & Agriculture
Biochemistry
Biology
- Topics
mitochondria
AAA+ ATPase
ATAD3-N domain
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Determine how the AAA+ domain of plant ATAD3 proteins, the end located inside the mitochondrial matrix, contributes to their essential roles in mitochondrial function.
- Uncover the unknown function of the cytosol-facing ATAD3-N domain and how it helps connect mitochondria with the rest of the plant cell.
- Examine how ATAD3 proteins evolved in the plant lineage to integrate mitochondria into the cell across both mitochondrial membranes.
More about the research
Yet plants release 25% to over 50% of the carbon dioxide they capture back into the air through mitochondrial respiration. How mitochondria are controlled therefore matters for plant growth, crop productivity and the carbon cycle. To work, mitochondria must communicate with the rest of the cell across their two membranes. This collaborative project studies a family of proteins that may make this communication possible.
Why it matters
Mitochondrial respiration releases a large share of the carbon dioxide that plants capture, so it shapes both crop productivity and the carbon cycle. Learning how ATAD3 proteins control mitochondria could inform future efforts in agriculture and in understanding plant contributions to climate. The work also reveals how essential, conserved proteins link mitochondria to the rest of the cell.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Yvette Yien
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Biochemistry
Determine how the mitochondrial unfoldase CLPX regulates PPOX and FECH, the final two enzymes of heme synthesis, in differentiating red blood cells.
Ju Gao
University of Arizona, AZ·Neuroscience
Test whether raising TMEM106B levels, a gene variant linked to dementia risk, impairs mitochondrial shape, membrane potential and respiration and causes damage in cultured cortical neurons.
Klaas Van Wijk
Cornell University, NY·Plant Science & Agriculture
Determine which N-terminal amino acids act as degrons (destruction signals) in chloroplasts, using a new in vivo quantitative reporter system and testing the roles of the recognizer ClpS1 and the Clp chaperone-protease system.
The school
San Diego State University: 13 labs on PI Pages, $182M a year on research, 142 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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