What type of research do we do?
We’re very interested in the intersection of biotechnology and agriculture/the environment. We frame a lot of our projects through the molecular design of multifunctional proteins to achieve new functions. Using bacteria and plants to manufacture our proteins, we can create protein materials to address challenges in sustainability. From helping plants express and excrete proteins to protect themselves to manufacturing enzymatic materials for green chemical synthesis, we see proteins as an extremely powerful tool to continue innovating new solutions to agricultural and environmental challenges.
Plant Excretion Pathways
We are interested in finding and engineering pathways for protein excretion and trafficking in plants. We want to use these pathways to help plants protect themselves against pathogens, to treat environmental contaminants, and as a way to influence the rhizosphere. Many challenges in sustainability and environmental health exist in agricultural operations, and we want to develop more targeted pest management strategies, recruit beneficial bacteria to promote the health of the plant, and use plants as a tool to degrade persistent chemicals in the soil.
To develop this system, we will employ a multi-omics approach to identify potential excretion sequences, design fusion proteins to screen candidate sequences, and test them in planta for their function.
Enzymatic Biotechnology
Enzymes are biology’s catalysts and generally possess very high specificity at moderate reaction conditions, making them a good candidate for more green chemical synthesis. However, their protein structure imparts their function and this leaves them susceptible to deactivation. To stabilize enzymes, they are often immobilized onto a heterogeneous support material. The specific interactions between the protein and the material can affect how strongly they interact, how functional the enzyme is, and how long the immobilized enzyme can be used as a catalyst.
Molecular design of immobilized enzymes can be achieved through the development of fusion proteins, where a binding domain is genetically fused to an enzymatic domain and both are recombinantly expressed together. This approach allows some separation between the enzyme active site and the surface of the material by controlling how the material and the protein interact. By using recent developments in metagenomic screening, sequencing, structural biology, and computational techniques, we can more easily identify and screen putative binding sequences in silico before experimentally verifying their binding and enzymatic activity on an immobilized biocatalyst.
Plant Virus Nanoparticles for Plant Immunoengineering
We are interested in using plant virus nanoparticles (deactivated plant viruses) as a vehicle for the delivery of nucleic acid cargo. These particles are naturally designed to infiltrate plant cells and deliver genetic cargo, making them an interesting vehicle for RNA and DNA transfer. Specifically, we can use this platform to probe questions about plant immunity through the lens of engineering.
By using transient expression of specific engineered proteins to stimulate plant immunity, we can jumpstart the plants’ defense system and help them fight off difficult pathogens. We seek to develop something akin to a prophylactic or vaccine to help plants protect themselves when disease is detected. This could be used to keep agricultural fields safe or to protect sensitive ecosystems with transient delivery of a protective payload that does not permanently alter the plant’s genetics.
