Marcela Rojas-Pierce | Plant and Microbial Biology
- Guard Cell-Enriched Phosphoproteome Reveals Phosphorylation of Endomembrane Proteins in Closed Stomata, Journal of Proteomics (2025, October 15)
- Manipulation of targeted protein degradation in plant biology, Biochemical Society Transactions (2025)
- Non-thermal plasma activated water is an effective nitrogen fertilizer alternative for Arabidopsis thaliana, PLoS ONE (2025, September 8)
- Regulation of vacuole fusion in stomata by dephosphorylation of the
HOPS subunitVPS39 , The Plant Journal (2025, December 1) - The Effect of Plasma Activated Water on the Rhizosphere Composition of Arabidopsis and Solanum lycopersicum, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2025, October 15)
Marcela Rojas-Pierce
Associate Department Head and Professor
Contact:
Partners Building III 227
Research
Cell Biology, Vesicle Trafficking, Vacuole Biogenesis
The vacuole is the major storage compartment in plant cells and has important implications for the nutritional value of agricultural crops. Our research is focused on identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate the biogenesis of the vacuole and the delivery of tonoplast proteins to the vacuolar membrane. We use chemical and classical genetic approaches to characterize these mechanisms in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Plant vacuoles have additional functions in growth and development. Dynamics of vacuole fusion are also important for critical physiological functions such as the regulation of stomata closing during water deficit and gravitropism. Our lab is starting to elucidate molecular mechanisms of vacuole dynamics that may contribute to responses of plants to these environmental cues.
Courses Taught:
- PB 414 Cell Biology (Spring)
- PB 780 Plant Molecular Biology (Fall)
Education:
Ph.D., Botany, University of California (2003)
B.S., Biology, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia (1997)
