Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: José Dinneny (Biology)

"How Do Plant Cells Decode Stress Hormone Dosages into Distinct Developmental Outcomes"

Developmental plasticity enables plants survival under fluctuating environmental conditions. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a growth regulating hormone that is central to this plasticity. How cells decode ABA concentration to generate distinct developmental outcomes remains unresolved. This project tests the hypothesis that ABA dose is interpreted through quantitative differences in receptor-ligand stoichiometry and interaction dynamics within the signaling network. By engineering yeast strains, Orion will systematically measure ABA receptor complex stability and interaction kinetics across hormone concentrations. Defining how signal dose is decoded at the molecular level will establish general principles of dose-dependent signaling and inform strategies to engineer climate-resilient crops.