Brad Binder Binder

Keywords:

signal transduction, development, plant hormones, ethylene, auxin, cytokinin

Research Area:

Description of Research:

Most of the research in the Binder lab focuses on ethylene signal transduction and signaling cross-talk. Ethylene is a gas produced by plants that regulates and influences many critical physiological and developmental processes making it of agricultural, horticultural and economic importance to understand its mode of action and to more fully understand how it affects plants. Ethylene receptors were the first plant hormone receptors cloned and a great deal is known about the signal transduction pathway. However there are still gaps in our understanding of this pathway. One focus of research is on the structure and function of the ethylene binding domain. Some of our goals with this are to characterize the ethylene binding pocket and define the conformational changes that occur when ethylene binds to the receptor. Another focus is on the signal output of the receptors. While the receptors have been shown to have protein kinase activity, this activity is not crucial for receptor function. Thus, we are working towards defining the output of the receptors. This is complicated by our observation that there are likely to be multiple outputs from the receptors. A third focus is on better defining components down-stream of the receptors and interactions with other hormone signaling pathways. Finally, we are examining ethylene binding proteins that are found in a subset of cyanobacteria with the goal of better understanding receptor function and evolution. To pursue these projects we combine biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, physiology and time-lapse imaging of growing plants. This multifaceted approach is allowing us to gain a better understanding of ethylene signal transduction and the complexity of interactions between ethylene and other signaling systems in plants.

Contact Information

Brad Binder Binder
Molecular Genetics and Systems Biology
Assistant Professor, Department of BCMB

UT
M407 Walters Life Sciences Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996

Email: bbinder@utk.edu

Degrees

Ph.D. Neurosciences, University of Wisconsin—Madison (1989)

M.S. Zoology, The George Washington University (1982)

B.S. Zoology, The George Washington University (1979)