Summary
This award supports research into how plants control their growth and form at a molecular level, with a focus on a maize gene called TERMINAL EAR1 (TE1). Plant development depends on meristems, pools of stem cells that give rise to leaves, stems, and reproductive organs such as flowers and seeds. While much is known about how genes turn on and off to guide development, far less is understood about how plants regulate development at the level of translating RNAs into proteins. This project investigates TE1, an RNA-binding protein that appears to control when and how specific RNAs are translated
