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CHRISTOPHER STAIGER
| Professor HANS 333B 496-1769 CV: Link |
The ultimate goal of our research is to understand how a network of filamentous structures, the cytoskeleton, functions during plant growth and response to biotic and abiotic stimuli. Cytoskeletal polymers called actin filaments power diverse cellular motility events. Although plant cells are not motile, actin filaments contribute to the dynamic intracellular movement of organelles and vesicles, coordinate endo- and exocytosis, and organize the cellular architecture. In addition to mechanochemical enzymes or motor proteins, including the myosins that hydrolyze ATP to run along cytoskeletal tracks, the energy of actin polymerization itself can be harnessed to perform work. Actin dynamics, or the rapid turnover of actin filaments, play a central role in these cellular processes. A large and diverse cast of characters, accessory proteins known as actin-binding proteins, modulate actin dynamics through binding to the monomer pool, interacting with the side and ends of filaments, creating breaks along a filament, and generating new filaments de novo. We use a combination of biochemistry, cell biology and advanced imaging technologies, as well as reverse-genetics to understand the properties and function of plant actin-binding proteins. Recent biochemical and single filament imaging analyses of several conserved classes of plant actin-binding proteins reveal unusual and unexpected properties. Notable examples include: an abundant monomer-binding protein (CAP) that catalyzes nucleotide exchange; a barbed-end capping protein (CP) that is dissociated from filament ends by the signaling lipid, phosphatidic acid; a villin-like bundling protein (VLN1) that lacks all Ca2+-regulated activities; and a formin family member (AFH1) that is non-processive and is sufficient to generate actin filament bundles. These and other recent discoveries motivate a careful description of the properties of plant proteins in vitro as a prelude to greater insight about the molecular mechanism(s) underlying the regulation of actin dynamics in vivo.
Education
Ph.D., California, Berkeley, 1990
Professional Faculty Research
(Plant cell/developmental biology) Cytoskeletal function during plant and fungal development and in response to environmental signals.
Awards
- University Faculty Scholar, Purdue University (2000-2005)
- Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, Bonn, Germany (2001)
Grants
- DOE-Regulation of actin dynamics at filaments ends: The role of capping protein in plant growth and lipid signaling.
- BARD-Studies of novel cytoskeletal regulatory proteins that are involved in abiotic stress signaling.
- NSF-MRI-Development of an Imaging Nonlinear Optical Ellipsometer.
Other Activities
Editorial Boards
- The Plant Cell, Co-editor (2005–2010)
- Plant and Cell Physiology, editorial board member (2007–2010)
Grant Review/Study Section
- NSF
- USDA-NRI, Washington, D.C. June 8-11, 2004
- DOE
- NSF
- BBSRC, UK
Advisory Boards
- American Society of Plant Biologists, Corresponding Membership Award Committee 2005-2008; Chair 2007-2008
Faculty Presentations
- Actin dynamics in plant cells. School of Biological Sciences, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia, September 28, 2007.
- Regulation of actin dynamics in plants. Department of Biochemistry and PULSe Plant Biology Seminar Series, Purdue University, October 2, 2007.
- Regulation of actin dynamics. DOE-Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, December 3, 2007.
Conferences
- Gordon Research Conference on Plant and Fungal Cytoskeleton, Andover, NH. August 15-20, 2004. Conference Chair.
- XV International Botanical Congress, Vienna Austria. July 2005. Talk " Regulation of Arabidopsis capping factor by the stress-inducible lipid signal, phosphatidic acid."
- International Conference on Plant Lipid-Mediated Signaling. Raleigh, NC. October 26-29, 2005. Talk "Phospholipid signaling and the actin cytoskeleton."
- 17th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research. Madison, WI. June 28 - July 2, 2006. Invited talk: "Actin-binding proteins as sensors of cellular stress."
- Gordon Research Conference, Plant and Fungal Cytoskeleton. Andover, NH. August 20-25, 2006. Invited talk: "Plant actin-binding proteins use diverse mechanisms for regulation of actin dynamics."
- Keystone Conference on Plant Cell Biology. Coeur d'Alene, ID. March 23-28, 2007. Session Chair for "The Cytoskeleton: Function and Regulation" and Invited talk: "Actin Filament Dynamics."
- ComBio 2007. Sydney, Australia. September 22-26, 2007. Invited Symposium Talk: "Regulation of actin dynamics in plants."
- Plant Biology 2009, ASPB.
- 9th IPMB Congress 2009, International Society for Plant Molecular Biology. St. Louis, MO. October 25-30, 2009. Invited symposium talk.
Recent Publications
- Huang, S., L. Gao, L. Blanchoin, and C. J. Staiger. 2006. Heterodimeric capping protein from Arabidopsis is regulated by phosphatidic acid. Mol. Biol. Cell 17: 1946-1958
- Thomas, S. G., S. Huang, S. Li, C. J. Staiger, and V. E. Franklin-Tong. 2006. Actin depolymerization is sufficient to induce programmed cell death in self-incompatible pollen. J. Cell Biol. 174: 221-229
- Staiger, C. J. and L. Blanchoin. 2006. Actin dynamics: old friends with new stories. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 9: 554-562
- Chaudhry, F., C. Guerin, M. von Witsch, L. Blanchoin, and C. J. Staiger. 2007. Identification of Arabidopsis cyclase-associated protein 1 as the first nucleotide-exchange factor for plant actin. Mol. Biol. Cell 18: 3002-3014
- Staiger, C. J., M. Sheahan, P. Khurana, X. Wang, D. W. McCurdy, and L. Blanchoin. 2009. Actin filament dynamics are dominated by rapid growth and prolific severing activity in the Arabidopsis cortical array. J. Cell Biol. 184: 269-280