Hirschi Lab 2005, bottom row, from right: Jay Morris, Jian Zhao, Adrian Bustamonte, Kendal Hirschi, Ning-Hui Cheng, Katryn Eske, Jet Liu, Annette Frank, Aida Safai, Hui Mei, Naomi Gonzales, Mamata Kole, Amanda Brock, Emmanuel Manrique, Toshiro Shigaki, Luke Barchie, Ian Rees. (Click to enlarge photo)
Our lab works with the mustard plant Arabidopsis and brewer's yeast to identify and characterize how organisms transport and sequester essential ions such as calcium.
The goals of our studies are to characterize new plant transporters and define the mechanisms by which these transporters move ions into various compartments within the plant cell.
The basic science has immediate relevance to understanding signal transduction events. Our long range applied goals are to identify novel transporters and express them in crop plants in order to 'mine' nutrients out of the soil and into plants. In doing so, this could boost the levels of essential nutrients in plants.
"Small plant plays big role in research"
This recent article in Baylor College of Medicine's "From The Laboratories" newsletter talks about our lab's work and the power of Arabidopsis and yeast as model organisms.
Check out our Lab Video Tour!
B.S. Biochemistry - University of Arizona
M.S. Microbiology - Arizona State University
Ph.D. Plant Pathology - University of Arizona
Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow- Whitehead
Institute
I received my PhD from the University of Arizona, where I worked with Hans Van Etten on plant/fungal interactions.
I was fortunate enough to then postdoc in Gerry Fink's lab at the Whitehead Institute in Boston.
I have been at Baylor since 1997. I have recently also obtained an appointment at Texas A&M in the vegetable and fruit improvement center (Horticulture).