The goal of the research in my lab is to understand the transcriptional regulation of phospholipid biosynthesis in yeast, and how phospholipid biosynthesis is coordinated with other biological processes. To address this goal, my lab is carrying on two inter-related projects. One project is designed to determine how phospholipid biosynthesis is coordinated with other biological processes via a set of transcription factors that belong to the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family. Another project is focused on the regulationof the only essential phospholipid biosynthetic gene ( PIS1 ) required for the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol (PI). This project is driven by the fact that virtually nothing is known about the transcriptional regulation of the PIS1 gene except that it is not coordinated with expression of the other phospholipid biosynthetic genes. We have been very successful with both projects publishing 38 papers with 2 more accepted for publication. My contributions in these areas are perhaps best evidenced by 4 solicited reviews. To carry out these projects, I have maintained a steady stream of extramural funding from the American Cancer Society and the National Science Foundation.
More recently, we have begun to examine the evolutionary conservation of the regulatory pathways that control phospholipid biosynthesis in the Saccharomyces genus. This project is in its infancy and I plan to apply for funding in the near future. Each of these three projects is summarized below.