ACTIN DEPOLYMERIZING FACTOR4 Regulates Actin Dynamics during Innate Immune Signaling in Arabidopsis

Author Profile

Jessica Henty-Ridilla

Current Position: Post-doctoral Researcher in the Biology Department at Brandeis University

Education: Ph.D. (2012) Plant Cell Biology, and M.S. (2009) in Tree Molecular Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN; and B.S. (2006) in Biology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

Non-scientific Interests: Food, cooking, video games, and exploring the world via Google Glass.

I first used a laser scanning confocal microscope as an undergraduate at St. Lawrence University. I loved imaging cells and was fascinated by images of the cytoskeleton. My graduate studies in Chris Staiger's laboratory at Purdue focused on the role of the actin cytoskeleton during plant innate immunity. Using variable-angle epifluorescence microscopy (VAEM), the Staiger lab observed that actin filament dynamics in plant cells are dominated by rapid growth and severing and that filament disassembly by severing is partially mediated by an Actin Depolymerizing Factor4 (ADF4) protein. In response to both pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbes the actin cytoskeleton of plant cells responds with a rapid increase in filament abundance. We define a signaling cascade during plant innate immunity that links microbe perception with changes in the actin cytoskeleton through ADF4, as described in this issue.