My lab is interested in devloping geminiviruses,
which are plant DNA viruses that replicate in
nuclei, as silencing vectors for understanding
gene function. When geminiviruses carry a short
DNA fragment homolgous to a plant gene, they cause
that gene to be silenced. By decreasing (silencing)
gene expression in intact plants, we can uncover
functions of genes that would normally be lethal.
This will allow us to identify function for sequences
in databases that have no homology to known proteins.
We are also interested in how geminiviruses interact
with silencing machinery, as it is beleived that
silencing is part of a plant defense against viral
infection. |
