Research Focus
It is estimated that 15% of the worldwide crop yield is lost to herbivory and damage by insects. Plants developed mechanisms to respond to local wounding events by triggering long-distance signaling responses in distal tissues leading to the activation of defense mechanisms. The propagation of wound-induced signals is believed to occur as (a combination of) chemical, electrical and hydraulic waves, accompanied by the translocation of metabolites and signaling molecules, such as glutamate or calcium ions.
By means of genetics, biochemistry, sensor biology, microscopy and electrophysiology we try to identify new components (transporters, channels, ligands…) that are involved in this long-distance wound signaling process and how they are regulated.
The five most important publications
- Moe-Lange J, Gappel NM, Machado M, Wudick MM, Sies C.S.A., Schott-Verdugo SN, Bonus M, Mishra S, Hartwig T, Bezrutczyk M, Basu D, Farmer EE, Gohlke H, Malkovskiy A, Haswell ES, Lercher MJ, Ehrhardt DW, Frommer WB, Kleist TJ (2021) Interdependence of a mechanosensitive anion channel and glutamate receptors in distal wound signaling. Science Advances, 7 (37), doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg4298
- Green MN, Gangwar SP, Michard E, Simon AA, Portes MT, Barbosa-Caro J, Wudick MM, Lizzio MA, Klykov O, Yelshanskaya MV, Feijó JA, Sobolevsky AI (2021) Structure of the Arabidopsis thaliana glutamate receptor-like channel GLR3.4. Molecular Cell, 81 (15): 3216-3226, doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.05.025
- Kim J-Y, Loo EP-I, Pang, TY, Lercher M, Frommer WB, Wudick MM (2021) Cellular export of sugars and amino acids: Role in feeding other cells and organisms. Plant Physiology, doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiab228
- Mou W, Kao Y-T, Michard E, Simon AA, Li D, Wudick MM, Lizzio MA, Feijó JA, Chang C (2020) Ethylene-independent signaling by the ethylene precursor ACC in Arabidopsis ovular pollen tube attraction. Nature Communications 11(1):4082. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17819-9.
- Wudick MM, Portes MT, Michard E, Rosas-Santiago P, Lizzio MA, Nunes CO, Campos C, Santa Cruz Damineli D, Carvalho JC, Lima PT, Pantoja O, Feijó JA (2018) CORNICHON sorting and regulation of GLR channels underlie pollen tube Ca2+ homeostasis. Science 360(6388):533-536. doi: 10.1126/science.aar6464.
Dr. Michael Wudick
Institute of Molecular Physiology
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf