Gloria Muday

Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Molecular Signalling at Wake Forest University

Keynote

The emphasis of research in the Muday lab is the understanding of hormone and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling. We are using genetic and molecular biological approaches to study the role of the plant hormone, ethylene, in plant growth and development and how ethylene and auxin signaling pathways interact. We are using a systems biology approach to identify the receptor and transcriptional signaling networks that control ethylene-modulated root development in the model species of Arabidopsis thaliana, including stimulation of root hairs, and inhibition of primary root growth, lateral root initiation, and gravitropic response. We are also examining the hormonal regulation of synthesis of flavonols, plant specialized metabolites that act as antioxidants. We are studying both the biochemical machinery by which flavonols are synthesized and how flavonols modulate ROS homeostasis in multiple developmental processes in both Arabidopsis and tomato. Our interests are in flavonol-modulated ROS homeostasis in root hair and lateral root development, abscisic acid signaling in guard cells to control stomatal aperture, and heat stress-induced ROS that impairs pollen tube elongation and plant reproduction.