Background |
Maureen R. Hanson is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics. She received a B.S. degree in botany at Duke University and a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University. After completing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, she joined the faculty of the biology department at University of Virginia. In 1985 she moved to Cornell, where she became the first coordinator of the Program in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology. She is presently a member of the graduate Fields of Genetics and Development, Plant Biology, and Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cell Biology, a joint member of the Department of Plant Biology, and Director of the Plant Science Center. |
Research Description |
Mitochondria during development: Mutations in mitochondrial genomes are known to create novel genes whose expression disrupts pollen development. Plants carrying such mutations are termed cytoplasmic male sterile or CMS. Individuals of many plant species, including maize, rice, sunflower, petunia, cauliflower, and cabbage, exhibit CMS. Breeding lines have been developed that utilize CMS in order to create hybrid seed. Any progeny of a male sterile plant must arise from cross-pollination.
RNA editing in organelles: In the process of RNA editing, RNA nucleotides are inserted, deleted, or modified, resulting in a difference between the actual RNA and the RNA predicted from genomic DNA. RNA editing is known to occur in a variety of organsims, including mammals, insects, plants and microorganisms. In plants, RNA editing occurs in RNAs encoded by the orgaenelle genomes located in chloroplasts and mitochondria. During RNA editing in plants, cytidines encoded by genomic DNAs are modified to uridine in transcripts.
Plant cell organization: The ability to label different subcellular locations with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) has made it possible to visualize intracellular activities in living cells. We have introduced chimeric genes which express GFP in a variety of organelles within the plant cell in order to study the dynamics of cell organization. Labeling plastids with GFP led to the rediscovery of tubules emanating from plastids. Now termed stromules for stroma-filled tubules, the function of these unexpected structures remains a topic for study. |
Publications |
Bentolila, S., L.E. Elliott, and Maureen R. Hanson. 2008. Genetic architecture of mitochondrial editing in Arabidopsis. Genetics, in press.
Heller, W.P., M.L. Hayes, and M.R. Hanson. 2008. Cross-competition in editing of chloroplast RNA in vitro implicates sharing of trans-factors between different C targets. J. Biol. Chem., in press.
Yu L.X., B.N. Gray, C.J. Rutzke, L.P. Walker, D.B. Wilson, M.R. Hanson. 2007. Expression of thermostable microbial cellulases in the chloroplasts of nicotine-free tobacco. J. Biotechnol. 131:362-369.
Reisen, D. and M.R. Hanson. 2007 Association of six YFP-myosin XI-tail fusions with mobile plant cell organelles BMC Plant Biology 7:6.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/7/6
Hayes, M.L. and M.R. Hanson. 2007. Assay of editing of exogenous RNAs in chloroplast extracts of Arabidopsis, maize, pea, and tobacco. Meth. Enzymol. 424:459-82.
Holzinger, A, O. Buchner, C. Lutz, M.R. Hanson 2007. Temperature-sensitive formation of chloroplast protrusions and stromules in mesophyll cells of Arabidopsis thaliana. Protoplasma 230:23-30.
Gillman, J.D., S. Bentolila, and M.R. Hanson 2007. The Petunia Restorer of Fertility protein is part of a large mitochondrial complex that interacts with transcripts of the CMS-associated locus. Plant Journal 49:217-27.
Hayes, M.L. and M.R. Hanson. 2007. Identification of a sequence motif critical for editing of a tobacco chloroplast transcript. RNA 13:281-8.
http://www.rnajournal.org/cgi/content/full/13/2/281
Hayes, M.L., M.L. Reed, C.E. Hegeman, and M.R. Hanson 2006. Sequence elements critical for efficient RNA editing of a tobacco chloroplast transcript in vivo and in vitro. Nuc. Acids Res. 34:3750-62. http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/13/3742
Xu, Y., H. Ishida, D. Reisen, and M. R Hanson. 2006. Upregulation of a tonoplast-localized cytochrome P450 during petal senescence in Petunia inflata. BMC Plant Biol. 6:8. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/6/8
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/6/8
Bentolila, S, Chateigner-Boutin AL, and M.R. Hanson. 2005. Ecotype allelic variation in C-to-U editing extent of a mitochondrial transcript identifies RNA-editing quantitative trait loci in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 139:2006-16
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/139/4/2006
Anderson, G.H, Veit B. and M.R. Hanson. 2005. The Arabidopsis AtRaptor genes are essential for post-embryonic plant growth. BMC Biol. 2005 3:12.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/3/12
Hegeman, C.E., C.P. Halter, T.G. Owens, and M.R. Hanson. 2005. Expression of complementary RNA from chloroplast transgenes affects editing efficiency of transgene and endogenous chloroplast transcripts. Nuc. Acids. Res. 33:1454-6.
http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/5/145
Hegeman, C.E., M.L. Hayes, and M.R. Hanson. 2005. Substrate and cofactor requirements for RNA editing of chloroplast transcripts in Arabidopsis in vitro. Plant Journal 42:124-32.
Anderson, G.H. and M.R. Hanson. 2005. The Arabidopsis Mei2 homologue AML1 binds AtRaptor1B, the plant homologue of a major regulator of eukaryotic cell growth. BMC Plant Biology 5:2. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/5/2
Click here to view Dr. Hanson's PubMed listings. |
