Professor
Division of Plant Science and Technology
Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Cell & Molecular Biology, Environmental Interactions, Plant Physiology,
Research
In recent years, there have been substantial advances in the identification of molecular players regulating iron homeostasis in plants, particularly in roots. Iron (Fe) deficiency responses in leaves, however, remain less studied but have gained significant attention as we discovered that leaves have autonomous Fe sensing mechanisms that can be uncoupled from roots. Our recent data also indicates that mature leaves are the primary site of Fe sensing at the whole plant level, and that Fe deficiency responses can be tracked in a leaf-specific manner consistent with sink-source relationships. We are currently integrating the timing of gene expression data together with the dynamic formation of transcriptional complexes that promote or repress gene expression. Independently, we are also exploring the role of synthetic microbial communities (SynCom) to explore plant responses during different levels of Fe availability.
In addition, the Mendoza lab is using continuous directed evolution to improve the efficiency of plant nutrient transporters. Directed, or continuous evolution, is a branch of synthetic biology where the approach is to explore design spaces that have not been explored by natural evolution. Moreover, it can do so in an extraordinarily short period of time. There are several platforms for directed evolution campaigns, but one of them is particularly suitable for plants as it uses the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is ideal to express and characterize plant transporters.
Awards & Honors
- National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2012)
- Cozzarelli Prize, Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (National Academy of Sciences, USA).
- 2008 PEW Latin American Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences, PEW Foundation.
- 2005 Weizmann award for the best Ph.D. thesis, nationwide, in Natural Sciences (Mexican Academy of Sciences).