# overview
I am testing the theory that the endoplasmic reticulum, ER is the circulatory network of the cell, connecting different organelles to each other, allowing them to share signals, lipids, and proteins.

I am particularly interested in how the cytoskeletal system of plants regulates the movement of the ER network. In interphase, the actinomyosin network drives movement of the ER, just as it drives the movement organelles through the cytoplasm in a process called cytoplasmic streaming, a phenomenon in plants, but not animal cells. Of the seventeen different myosin forms in plants, only six are involved in active cytoplasmic streaming. We are sorting out which of those six guide the different movements of the endoplasmic reticulum.

I am also interested in the nature of the nexus between the ER and other organelles, including the chloroplast, plasma membrane, and Golgi. I have recently shown that by photo-stimulating the nexus between the chloroplast and the ER, the directional flow within the ER can be reversibly altered. This ability to generate very localized ER stress may have application in a wide variety of fields - from finding cures for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's syndrome to developing crops that can better-tolerate physiological heat stress and drought.

Finally, I recently founded the company, Griffing Biologics LLC, which is based on the discovery of a novel, non-toxic pre-emergent herbicide that interferes with plant sterol metabolism. Other work examining the uptake of sterols indicates that it may get into the plant cells via plasma membrane-ER contact sites. We are pursuing the function of this transport in controlling the early stages of plant growth.

# keywords[]
Stem Cell Research - Nonembryonic - Human

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Oregon State University - (Corvallis, Oregon, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Plant Biotechnology Institute - (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Stanford University - (Stanford, California, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
University of Saskatchewan - (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
University of Utah - (Salt Lake City, Utah, United States)

# publications[].label
RADIOIMMUNOASSAY OF MORPHINAN ALKALOIDS IN PAPAVER-SOMNIFERUM HYPOCOTYLS, CALLUS, AND SUSPENSION-CULTURES

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Protoplasts for Studies of Cell Organelles

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POST GOLGI-APPARATUS STRUCTURES AND MEMBRANE REMOVAL IN PLANTS

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The isolation of coated vesicles from protoplasts of soybean.

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Dancing with the Stars: Using Image Analysis to Study the Choreography of the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Its Partners and of Movement Within Its Tubules.

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EXPRESSION OF A PHASEOLIN GLYCOSYLATION MUTANT IN TRANSGENIC TOBACCO SEED

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Cytological and biochemical requirements for the establishment of a polar cell.

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Isoelectric focusing of plant cell protoplasts: separation of different protoplast types.

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Flying into the plant cell: 3D reconstruction of early endocytosis.

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Involvement of monovalent cations in Golgi secretion by plant cells

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Who invented the dichotomous key? Richard Waller's watercolors of the herbs of Britain.

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VIDEO MICROSCOPY - ELEMENTS FOR INTEGRATION INTO THE GENERAL HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY CURRICULUM

# publications[].label
An evaluation of image analysis at benthic sites based on color segmentation

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FRET analysis of transmembrane flipping of FM4-64 in plant cells: is FM4-64 a robust marker for endocytosis?

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CYTOPLASMIC PH CHANGE AND POTASSIUM EFFLUX FROM ELICITOR-TREATED SOYBEAN CELLS AND PROTOPLASTS

# publications[].label
Comparisons of Golgi structure and dynamics in plant and animal cells.

# publications[].label
The mystery of the missing portrait of Robert Hooke, 17th-century scientist extraordinaire

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Expression, glycosylation and secretion of phaseolin in a baculovirus system.

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Confocal epipolarization microscopy of gold probes in plant cells and protoplasts.

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Fusicoccin Binding and Internalization by Soybean Protoplasts

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Plasmolysis-deplasmolysis causes changes in endoplasmic reticulum form, movement, flow, and cytoskeletal association.

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PURIFICATION OF A PURPLE ACID-PHOSPHATASE SECRETED BY SOYBEAN SUSPENSION-CULTURES AND IDENTIFICATION OF INTRACELLULAR FORMS

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Vital stain for plasma membrane endocytosis in plant cells

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Protoplasts for Studies of the Plasma Membrane and Associated Cell Organelles

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Endocytosis of cationized ferritin by coated vesicles of soybean protoplasts.

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Authentic Ecological Inquiries Using BearCam Archives

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Movement and remodeling of the endoplasmic reticulum in nondividing cells of tobacco leaves.

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Laser stimulation of the chloroplast/endoplasmic reticulum nexus in tobacco transiently produces protein aggregates (boluses) within the endoplasmic reticulum and stimulates local ER remodeling.

# publications[].label
CYTOPLASMIC PH CHANGE IN SOYBEAN CELLS AND PROTOPLASTS IN RESPONSE TO BINDING AND INTERNALIZATION OF ELICITOR

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Reversibly changing directional flow in the plant endoplasmic reticulum

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Purification and characterization of a secreted purple phosphatase from soybean suspension cultures.

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Comments on Dr Whittaker's letter and the article.

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Convergence of the endocytic and lysosomal pathways in soybean protoplasts.

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Improved volume rendering for the visualization of living cells examined with confocal microscopy

# publications[].publisher
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics

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The plant extracellular matrix: news from the cell's frontier.

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Isoelectric focusing of plant cell membranes.

# publications[].publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

# publications[].label
Dancing with the Stars: Using Image Analysis to Study the Choreography of the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Its Partners and of Movement Within Its Tubules.

# publications[].label
ENDOCYTOSIS IN PLANT-PROTOPLASTS - VISUALIZATION AND QUANTITATION OF FLUID-PHASE ENDOCYTOSIS USING SILVER-ENHANCED BOVINE SERUM ALBUMIN-GOLD

# publications[].label
Living with genome instability: plant responses to telomere dysfunction.

# publications[].publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

# publications[].label
IMMUNOLOCALIZATION OF THE MAJOR LATEX PROTEINS IN DEVELOPING LATICIFERS OF OPIUM POPPY (PAPAVER-SOMNIFERUM)

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IMMUNOGOLD LOCALIZATION OF A PLANT ALPHA-GLUCOSIDASE - OCCURRENCE IN THE ENDOCYTIC AND EXOCYTIC ORGANELLES OF SOYBEAN AND MUNGBEAN CELLS

# publications[].label
TRANSMURAL SECRETION OF A HIGHLY-EXPRESSED CELL-SURFACE ANTIGEN OF OAT ROOT CAP CELLS

# publications[].label
Cytochemical localization of peroxidase in soybean suspension culture cells and protoplasts: Intracellular vacuole differentiation and presence of peroxidase in coated vesicles and multivesicular bodies

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Plant ER geometry and dynamics: biophysical and cytoskeletal control during growth and biotic response.

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Cell-fractionation analysis of glucan synthase I and II distribution and polysaccharide secretion in soybean protoplasts : Evidence for the involvement of coated vesicles in wall biogenesis.

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Traffic to the endocytic compartment of plants

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A VIDEO RECORDING AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM USED TO SAMPLE INTERTIDAL COMMUNITIES

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A VIDEO RECORDING AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM USED TO SAMPLE HARD-BOTTOM BENTHIC COMMUNITIES

# publications[].label
Developmentally regulated expression of a sunflower 11S seed protein gene in transgenic tobacco.

# publications[].label
The Use of Protoplasts in the Study of Coated Vesicles

# publications[].label
Fluid-phase and membrane-bound transport to the endocytic compartment in plants

# publications[].label
ER network dynamics are differentially controlled by myosins XI-K, XI-C, XI-E, XI-I, XI-1, and XI-2.

# publications[].label
Quantitative analysis of transnuclear and intranuclear membranes in KDEL-GFP-expressing tobacco suspension culture cells

# publications[].label
Networking in the endoplasmic reticulum.

# publications[].label
The Sterol Trafficking Pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.

# researcherOn[].label
I-Corps: A pre-emergent herbicide with a new mode of action

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
National Science Foundation - (Arlington, Virginia, United States)

# streetAddress
Texas A&M University; Biology; 3258 TAMU

# inTheNews[].label
The Mystery Of The Missing Portrait Of Robert Hooke