Axtell Lab - Penn State University
Welcome to the website of the Axtell Lab at the Pennsylvania State University. We are biologists who study a class of genes which produce small RNAs, using diverse plant species. Small RNAs went largely undetected until around the turn of the century -- we now know that they are critical components of gene expression in nearly all eukaryotic organisms. These small RNAs are functionally united in that they all function as sequence-specific repressors of other genes. Small RNAs are especially important for regulating the developmental programs of both animals and plants. Our research addresses fundamental unknowns of small RNA functions in plants including:
1. What are the targets of small RNAs in plants?
2. How and to what ends have small RNA pathways diversified during land plant evolution?
3. What are the functions of ancient small RNAs in extremely diverse species?
We use genetics, molecular biology, and genomics to answer these questions in two distinct model systems:
Physcomitrella patens, a moss
Arabidopsis thaliana, a flowering plant in the mustard family
Both are easily manipulated using molecular genetics and the sequences of their complete nuclear genomes have been determined. The over 400 million years of evolution separating the two species allows broad evolutionary questions to be addressed.
Updated: 17 April 2009 MJA
TOP ROW: Charles Addo-Quaye Qikun Liu Jo Ann Snyder Michael Axtell Rajeswaran Rajendran
BOTTOM ROW:Zhaorong Ma Sung Hyun “Joseph” Cho Ceyda Coruh Wan-Ching “Cathy” Lin
April 2009
