Elizabeth A. Bray
Associate Professor of Plant Physiology
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Plant Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 1982
VOICE: 951-827-4548 |
The purpose of my research program is to understand the role of the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in when plants are subjected to water stress. ABA levels are increased in response to water deficit. ABA has multiple roles during plant stress controlling plant water loss through the closure of stomata as well as inducing a number of specific genes. Genes are induced by ABA through induction of transcription, regulation of post-transcriptional mechanisms as well as through the action of gene products that accumulate in response to ABA. Genes induced by ABA include proteins that are predicted to protect cells from water deficit and genes that are involved in gene regulation and signal transduction. Gene products, such as those encoded by late embryogenesis abundant (lea) genes, may protect cellular structures from damage due to water deficit, and other gene products may protect cells from secondary stresses such as pests and oxidative damage. An ABA-induced H1 histone isotype, H1-S, may be involved in controlling gene expression during plant water stress.
Ongoing projects include the following:
- production and characterization of plants that express an antisense H1-S gene to study the function of H1 histone in regulation of gene expression and the response to water deficit;
- identification of new genes involved in the drought response of Arabidopsis using two different genetic methods: screening enhancer/gene trap lines (in collaboration with Patricia Springer) for reporter gene expression in response to water deficit and the identification of signaling steps required for ABA signal transduction in response to drought in mutated plants;
- characterization of promoter elements and enhancers that control ABA-regulated genes that may be exploited for crop improvement;
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Cohen, A., Meena, M.S, Plant, Á.L., and Bray, E.A. Multiple mechanisms control the expression of ABA-requiring genes in tomato plants exposed to soil water deficit. Plant, Cell and Environment (in press)
Bray, E.A., Shih, T.-Y., Moses, M.S., Cohen, A., Imai, R., and Plant, Á.L. Water-deficit induction of a tomato H1 histone requires abscisic acid. Plant Growth Regulation (in press)
Bray, E.A. Plant responses to water deficit. Trends in Plant Science 2: 48-54 (1997)
Bray, E.A., Moses, M.S., Chung, E. and Imai, R. The role of abscisic acid in the regulation of gene expression during drought stress. In L. Nover and A. Leone (ed.). Genes and Their Products for Tolerance to Physical Stresses in Plants, Vol. 2. European Science Foundation, 48-54 (1997)
Imai, R., Chang, L., Ohta, A., Bray, E.A. and Takagi, M. A lea-class gene of tomato confers salt and freezing tolerance when expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gene 170: 243-248 (1996)
Griffiths, A. and Bray, E.A. Shoot induction of ABA-requiring genes in response to soil drying. Journal of Experimental Botany 47: 1525-1531 (1996)
Imai, R., Moses, M.S. and Bray, E.A. Expression of an ABA-induced gene of tomato in transgenic tobacco during periods of water deficit. Journal of Experimental Botany 46: 1077-1084 (1995)
Ismail, A., Hall, A.E. and Bray, E.A. Drought and pot size effects on transpiration efficiency and carbon isotope discrimination of cowpea accessions and hybrids. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 21: 23-35 (1994)
Kahn, T.L., Fender, S.E., O'Connell, M.A. and Bray, E.A. Characterization of expression of drought- and ABA-regulated genes in the drought resistant species Lycopersicon pennellii. Plant Physiology 103: 597-605 (1993)
Bray, E.A. Update on water deficit: molecular responses to water deficit. Plant Physiology 103: 1035-1040 (1993)