Chloroplast Gene Expression: Regulation, Stress Signaling and Biotechnology

Dr. Tessa Burch-Smith is an Associate Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, MO, USA. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of the West Indies, then received her Ph.D. from Yale University under the mentorship of Dr. S. P. Dinesh-Kumar. Her thesis work in plant innate immunity concerned plant responded to Tobacco mosaic virus, leading her to investigate plasmodesmata and intercellular communication with Dr. Patricia Zambryski at the University of California, Berkeley for her post-doctoral work.  Current research in her lab examines the connection between chloroplast signaling and intercellular communication with a focus on how signals from the chloroplast vary in response to changing chloroplast gene expression.