Jin Suk Lee, PhD

Education

PhD (University of British Columbia)
PDF (University of Washington)

Research interests

The long-term goal of our research program is to understand the molecular mechanisms that control plant growth and development. We study plant development in the context of gene regulation, protein-protein interaction and signal transduction using the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. At the moment, our program aims to understand how different peptide signals are correctly interpreted to control diverse developmental processes including stomatal patterning in plants. By developing a deeper understanding of peptide signaling that controls distinct aspects of developmental processes, we plan to develop new strategies to increase transpiration efficiency and biomass production of agriculturally important plants.

Plant Molecular Genetics
Laboratory Studies in Biodiversity

Jangra R, Brunetti SC, Wang X, Kaushik P, Gulick PJ, Foroud NA, Wang S, and Lee JS (2021) Duplicated antagonistic EPF peptides optimize grass stomatal initiation. Development 148(16):dev199780.

Jangra R, Damen H, and Lee JS (2019) MKP1 acts as a key modulator of stomatal development. Plant Signaling & Behavior 14(7):1604017.

Tamnanloo F, Damen H, Jangra R, and Lee JS (2018) MAP KINASE PHOSPHATASE1 controls cell fate transition during stomatal development. Plant Physiology 178(1):247-257 (FT and HD are co-first authors). 

Sun T, Nitta Y, Zhang Q, Wu D, Tian H, Lee JS, and Zhang Y (2018) Antagonistic interactions between two MAP kinase cascades in plant development and immune signaling. EMBO Report doi: 10. 15252/embr.201745324. 

Lee JS (2017) Purification of plant receptor kinases from plant plasma membranes. Methods in Molecular Biology 1621:47-56.

Lee JS, and De Smet I (2016) Fine-tuning development through antagonistic peptides – an emerging theme. Trends in Plant Science 21(12):991-993 (JSL and SID are co-corresponding authors).

Tameshige T, Okamoto S, Lee JS, Aida M, Tasaka M, Torii KU, and Uchida N (2016) A secreted peptide and its receptors shape the auxin response pattern andleaf margin morphogenesis. Current Biology 26(18):2478-2485.

Horst RJ, Fujita H, Lee JS, Rychel AL, Garrick JM, Kawaguchi M, Peterson KM, Torii KU (2015) Molecular framework of a regulatory circuit initiating two-dimensional spatial patterning of stomatal lineage. PLoS Genetics 11(7):e10005374 (RJH, HF and JSL are co-first authors).

Lee JS, Hnilova M, Maes M, Lin YC, Putarjunan A, Han SK, Avila J, Torii KU (2015) Competitive binding of antagonistic peptides fine-turns stomatal patterning. Nature 522:439-443.

Avila JR, Lee JS, Torii KU (2015) Co-immunoprecipitation of membrane-bound receptors. The Arabidopsis Book 13:e0180.

Cui H, Kong D, Wei P, Hao Y, Torii KU, Lee JS, Li J (2014) SPINDLY, ERECTA and its ligand STOMAGEN have a role in Redox-mediated Cortex Proliferation in the Arabidopsis Root. Molecular Plant 7:1727-1739.

Bemis SM, Lee JS, Shpak ED, Torii KU (2013) Regulation of floral patterning and organ identity by Arabidopsis ERECTA-family receptor kinase genes. The Journal of Experimental Biology 64:5323-5333.

Uchida N, Lee JS, Horst RJ, Lai HH, Kajita R, Kakimoto T, Tasaka M, Torii KU (2012) Regulation of inflorescence architecture by inter-tissue-layer ligand-receptor communication between endodermis and phloem. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:6337-6342 (NU and JSL are co-first authors).

Lee JS and Torii KU (2012) A tale of two systems: Peptide ligand-receptor pairs in plant development. Cold Spring Harbor Symp Quant Biology 77:83-89.

Lee JS, Kuroha T, Hnilova M, Khatayevich D, Kanaoka MM, McAbee JM, Sarikaya M, Tamerler C, Torii KU (2012) Direct interaction of ligand-receptor pairs specifying stomatal patterning. Genes & Development 26:126-136 (Cover of the issue).   

Guseman JM, Lee JS, Bogenschutz NL, Peterson KM, Virata RE, Xie B, Kanaoka MM, Hong Z, Torii KU (2010) Dysregulation of cell-to-cell connectivity and stomatal patterning by loss-of-function mutation in Arabidopsis chorus (glucan synthase-like 8). Development 137:1731-1741.

Lee JS, Wang S, Sritubtim S, Chen JG, Ellis BE (2009) Arabidopsis mitogen-activated protein kinase MPK12 interacts with the MAPK phosphatase IBR5 and regulates auxin signaling. The Plant Journal 57:975-985. 

Walia A, Lee JS, Wasteneys G, Ellis BE (2009) Arabidopsis mitogen-activated protein kinase MPK18 mediates cortical microtubule functions in plant cells. The Plant Journal 59:565-575. 

Lee JS, Huh KW, Bhargava A, Ellis BE (2008) Comprehensive analysis of protein-protein interactions between Arabidopsis MAPKs and MAPK kinases helps define potential MAPK signaling modules. Plant Signaling & Behavior 3:1037-1041.