The Boron Efflux Transporter ROTTEN EAR Is Required for Maize Inflorescence Development and Fertility

Author Profile

Mithu Chatterjee and Zara Tabi

Mithu Chatterjee

Current Position: Research Assistant, Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA, 08854.

Education: PhD and MS in Plant Molecular Biology from Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, India.

Non-scientific Interests: Visiting historical places and watching classic movies.

My research journey began with the undergraduate program at Zakir Hassan College, Delhi University, India. After completing my BS degree in Zoology, I pursued my masters and Ph.D. degree in Plant Molecular Biology under the supervision of Prof. Jitendra Khurana, an expert in light signaling and plant hormones. My doctoral program revolved around cryptochrome, a blue light photoreceptor and rapeseed plants. My quest to understand various plant developmental regulators brought me to the US. I joined Prof David Hannapel to decipher the role of mobile RNAs in potato development. From Iowa State University, I moved to Dr. Kevin Folta's lab at the University of Florida to work on strawberry genomics and development. The beauty of strawberry and its leaf architecture still fascinate me. Most recently, I have taken the opportunity to work on maize inflorescence development in the Gallavotti lab at the Waksman Institute, Rutgers University. Here my main project is to decipher the importance of the micronutrient boron in growth and development of maize inflorescences. This story started with the identification of a recessive maize mutant, rotten ear (rte) that is affected in a boron efflux transporter gene. I am excited to continue my work on various boron transporters and how they contribute to growth and development in different environmental conditions.

Zara Tabi

Current Position: Second-year Medical Student at the University of California, Davis.

Education: M.S (2012) in Biology and B.S (2010) in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University of California, San Diego.

Non-scientific Interests: Long distance running, knitting, photography, ukulele.

As a third-year undergraduate student at UCSD, I worked as a volunteer summer researcher and became involved in the preliminary analysis of maize mutants defective in floral development under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Gallavotti. I enjoyed the work so much that I continued my research into the school year. As I progressed, I started focusing my efforts on the fine-mapping of one particular mutant, leading to the cloning and characterization of what we now know to be the rotten ear gene. This project eventually encompassed my master's thesis research, which I completed in 2012. While I've moved on to the field of medicine, I still take to heart all the important lessons this research and my time running around in a San Diego cornfield has taught me.