Single Cell Plant Biology
Marc Libault Lab
Research Interests
Plant cells differentially use their genetic information to gain their specific function. Libault has a long-term interest in understanding the differential use of the genome between plant cells and its dynamic regulation during plant development and in response to environmental stresses. Gaining this information is essential to understand gene function and the regulation of their expression, and, therefore, to implement well-sounded synthetic biology strategies to enhance desirable crop traits.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Marc Libault
Principal Investigator, Bond LSC
Professor of Plant Science and Technology
phone(573) 882-0477
email libaultm@missouri.edu
Marc Libault is a professor in the Division of Plant Science and Technology and a member of the Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) at Mizzou. He received his PhD degree in 2004 from the University of Paris-Sud in Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology working on the HP1-like protein in Arabidopsis thaliana. In 2005, he joined Dr. Gary Stacey’s laboratory at the University of Missouri-Columbia as a post-doctoral associate to study the symbiotic interaction between the soybean root and the nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Rhizobia. In 2011, as a faculty at the University of Oklahoma,
Libault developed a system biology approach on the root hair cell, a unique plant root cell type involved in the uptake of water and nutrients from the soil and the first cell infected by Rhizobia in legume plants. In 2018, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and pioneered the field of plant single-nucleus technologies to analyze the differential use of the genomic information between plant cells. As faculty, he is expanding the use of plant single-nucleus biology to study various species and stresses including legumes to study their symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
ABOUT THE LAB
Each plant cell is characterized by its specific function, developmental stage, and interaction with its environment. Understanding the differential use of the genome by each cell/cell type composing the plant and its regulation in response to environmental changes provides a new understanding of gene function, regulation, and networks.
Focusing on the symbiotic interaction between soybean plants and Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria, my lab uses single-cell omics and high-resolution spatial transcriptomics approaches to:
- Reveal the cellular complexity of the
- infection zone of the soybean nodule
- Characterize the genetic programs controlling this symbiosis
- Highlight the role of the sub-cellular compartmentalization of plant transcripts as a regulatory mechanism of protein translation
- Support the functional characterization of new genes
- Control this symbiosis
In addition to this central research theme, my lab also develops technological and biological resources through collaborations and sharing of unique data sets with the scientific community, (e.g., the single-cell resolution transcriptome atlas of the soybean plant). Such resources support the selection of the genes that control cell-type-specific transcriptomic programs.
LAB MEMBERS
Research Topics
-
CRISPR-based gene editing in plants
-
Crop improvement and agricultural sustainability
-
Gene editing
-
Genomic tools and systems biology
-
Legume-rhizobia interaction
-
Multi-omics and bioinformatics tools
-
Nitrogen fixation in soybeans
-
Plant-microbe interactions
-
Single-cell genomics
-
Spatial transcriptomics
-
CRISPR-based gene editing in plants
-
Crop improvement and agricultural sustainability
-
Gene editing
-
Genomic tools and systems biology
-
Legume-rhizobia interaction
-
Multi-omics and bioinformatics tools
-
Nitrogen fixation in soybeans
-
Plant-microbe interactions
-
Single-cell genomics
-
Spatial transcriptomics
