Dr. Darron Luesse
Professor, Assistant Chair
Ph.D. Indiana University, 2006
Office: SW 1200
Research Lab: SW 1020
Phone: (618) 650-2153
E-mail: dluesse@siue.edu
Web: http://www.siue.edu/~dluesse/
Courses Taught: Cell and Molecular Biology (BIOL 319), Plant Physiology (BIOL 472), Molecular Plant Biology (BIOL 475), Recombinant DNA Technology (BIOL 418a), Bioinformatics (BIOL 490), Introduction to Biological Sciences I (BIOL 150).
Research Interests: I am interested in how plants, as sessile organisms, perceive and respond to environmental stimuli. My current research utilizes the genetic model organism Arabidopsis thaliana to study asymmetric growth in response to a change in the direction of gravity, a process known as gravitropism. Simply stated, I study how plants know which way is “up,” and how they respond to a reorientation with respect to gravity. More specifically, I am fascinated by the complex signaling pathways that regulate such a straightforward response. To better understand these processes I use a combination of molecular, genetic and physiological approaches to gain functional information about the genes required for a plant to sense and physically respond to gravity. Most recently, this has led to a collaboration with NASA to determine the differences in protein expression and post translational modifications between ground samples vs. those in orbit on the International Space Station.
Research Opportunities: For inquiries please contact me.
Selected Publications
Basu, P, CPS, Krus, Luesse, DR, and Wyatt, SE, (2022) Plant Proteomic Data Acquisition and Data Analyses: Lessons from Spaceflight. Plant Gravitropism: Methods in Molecular Biology. Vol 2368. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1677-2_13
Kruse, C.P., Meyers, A.D., Basu, P., Hutchinson S., Luesse, D.R., (2020) Spaceflight Induces Novel Regulatory Responses in Arabidopsis Seedling as revealed by Combined Proteomic and Transcriptomic Analyses. BMC Plant Biology. 20, 237. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-020-02392-6
Basu P, Kruse CPS, Luesse DR, Wyatt SE (2017) Growth in spaceflight hardware results in alterations to the transcriptome and proteome. Life Science in Space Research 10.1016/j.lssr.2017.09.001
Kruse CPS, Basu P, Luesse DR, Wyatt SE (2017) Transcriptome and Proteome Stability in RNAlater® Preserved Tissue of Arabidopsis thaliana. PLOS One 12, e0175943 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175943
Hutchinson, S, Basu, P, Wyatt SE, and Luesse, DR (2016) Methods for On-Orbit Germination of Arabidopsis thaliana for Proteomic Analysis. Gravitational and Space Research 4(2): 20-27. http://gravitationalandspacebiology.org/index.php/journal/article/view/743/763
Luesse, D. R., Wilson, M. E., Haswell, E. S. (2015). RNA Sequencing Analysis of the msl2msl3, crl, and ggps1 Mutants Indicates that Diverse Sources of Plastid Dysfunction Do Not Alter Leaf Morphology Through a Common Signaling Pathway. Frontiers in plant science, 6, 1148. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2015.01148/full
Ruppel, NJ, Kropp, KN, Davis, PA, Martin, AE, Luesse, DR, and Hangarter, RP. (2013) Mutations in GERANYLGERANYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE 1affect chloroplast development in Arabidopsis thaliana. American Journal of Botany 100(10): 2074-2084. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24081146/
