The Calderon Lab is a plant biology research laboratory located on the beautiful campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, IN
We’re interested in understanding the changes that happen inside of plant cells after a young seedling sees light for the first time. Above is an image showing the development of such a seedling (of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana) over the course of 24 hours. The physical changes that you can see with the naked eye are accompanied by enormous changes inside the cell including altered gene expression, hormone signaling and protein synthesis/degradation/re-localization. All these changes eventually allow the plant to stop depending on the resources that were stored in its seed and start producing its own energy via photosynthesis.
Our research is focused on “connecting the dots” between the initial perception of light and the construction of the all the protein-pigment complexes required for photosynthesis. Interested in learning more? Check out the rest of our website!
