Plants are amazing chemists capable of generating an array of compounds with a range of biological activities. Understanding the biosynthesis of these compounds at a structural and mechanistic level is the foundation for manipulating their assembly either in vitro or in vivo. Our research employs biochemistry, protein engineering, and x-ray crystallography to investigate the molecular basis of biological processes in plants, microbes, and nematodes.
Molecular basis of the evolution of alternative tyrosine biosynthesis routes in plants (Schenck & Holland et al., 2017 Nature Chem Biol 13, 1029-35)
Structural basis for pre-receptor modulation of plant hormones by GH3 proteins (Westfall & Zubieta et al., 2012 Science 336, 1708)
A chemical inhibitor of jasmonate signaling targets JAR1 in Arabidopsis thaliana (Meesters et al., 2014 Nature Chem Biol 10, 830)
The next green movement: plant biology for the environment and sustainability (Jez et al., 2016 Science 353, 1241)
JBC’s virtual issue on Plant Biology includes our phytochelatin engineering paper (Cahoon et al., 2015 JBC 290, 17321-30).
Conformational changes in the di-domain structure of Arabidopsis phosphoethanolamine methyltransferase leads to active site formation (Lee & Jez, 2017 J Biol Chem 292, 21690-702)
