Dr. Luc Varin

Biography

Luc Varin is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Concordia University. His research primarily focuses on the biochemical and molecular aspects of sulfonation reactions. His laboratory is investigating how these reactions play a critical role in plant growth, development, and adaptation to stress, utilizing Arabidopsis thaliana and sulfotransferases as a model system. To date, Varin's team has characterized various sulfotransferases involved in the sulfation of brassinosteroids and hydroxylated derivatives of jasmonic acid. The biochemical functions and expression patterns of these enzymes indicate that plants, similar to mammals, employ sulfonation reactions to modulate the biological activity of hormones and chemical messengers. One significant axis of his research involves studying the structure-function relationship of sulfotransferases to elucidate the mechanisms behind sulfonate transfer and to define the amino acids responsible for substrate binding and catalysis. Through techniques such as site-directed mutagenesis, Varin has mapped amino acids essential for catalysis and cosubstrate binding, and the construction of chimeric proteins has allowed him to define the domains responsible for substrate specificity.

Research Interests