Faculty and Staff Biographies

I am a Plant Molecular Biologist.  My research interests focus on vitamin B6 metabolism and the roles of vitamin B6 in plants.   I am interested in how vitamin B6 is made and used in the plant.  Vitamin B6 is a known coenzyme used in over a hundred chemical reactions in the cell.  It is also a potent antioxidant and is involved in a plant's response to environmental stresses. Animals cannot make vitamin B6 and must obtain it from their diet.  For this reason, it is worth understanding the metabolism of this important nutrient in plants, as this is the origin of most of the vitamin B6 in our diet.  Currently I am investigating the role of vitamin B6 in sucrose sensing in Arabidopsis thaliana.