Cell cycle-dependent association of polo kinase Cdc5 with CENP-A contributes to faithful chromosome segregation in budding yeast.

Evolutionarily conserved polo-like kinase, Cdc5 (Plk1 in humans), associates with kinetochores during mitosis; however, the role of cell cycle-dependent centromeric ( CEN) association of Cdc5 and its substrates that exclusively localize to the kinetochore have not been characterized. Here we report that evolutionarily conserved CEN histone H3 variant, Cse4 (CENP-A in humans), is a substrate of Cdc5, and that the cell cycle-regulated association of Cse4 with Cdc5 is required for cell growth. Cdc5 contributes to Cse4 phosphorylation in vivo and interacts with Cse4 in mitotic cells.

Proteome-Wide Analysis of Cysteine Reactivity during Effector-Triggered Immunity.

A surge in the accumulation of oxidants generates shifts in the cellular redox potential during early stages of plant infection with pathogens and activation of effector-triggered immunity (ETI). The redoxome, defined as the proteome-wide oxidative modifications of proteins caused by oxidants, has a well-known impact on stress responses in metazoans. However, the identity of proteins and the residues sensitive to oxidation during the plant immune response remain largely unknown.

Dimerization and thiol sensitivity of the salicylic acid binding thimet oligopeptidases TOP1 and TOP2 define their functions in redox-sensitive cellular pathways.

A long-term goal in plant research is to understand how plants integrate signals from multiple environmental stressors. The importance of salicylic acid (SA) in plant response to biotic and abiotic stress is known, yet the molecular details of the SA-mediated pathways are insufficiently understood. Our recent work identified the peptidases TOP1 and TOP2 as critical components in plant response to pathogens and programmed cell death (PCD).