Dr. Mark Estelle

Biography

Mark Estelle is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Research at the University of California, San Diego. His research primarily focuses on the plant hormone auxin, which plays a crucial role in various stages of plant growth and development, from embryogenesis to senescence. His laboratory utilizes the genetically tractable plant Arabidopsis thaliana to identify and characterize auxin response pathways. Estelle's work has demonstrated that auxin promotes the rapid degradation of a family of transcriptional repressors known as Aux/IAA proteins through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Furthermore, his research explores the interaction between auxin and an E3 ubiquitin protein ligase referred to as SCFTIR1, which enhances the interaction with Aux/IAA proteins. Recently, he has shifted his focus towards understanding the complex transcriptional networks that mediate auxin’s growth responses. The ultimate aim of his research is to unravel the systems that govern auxin-dependent development at both cellular and organismal levels. Estelle received his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Alberta, Canada, and completed his postdoctoral work at Michigan State University before joining the faculty at UC San Diego in 2008. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and as an Academic Editor for PLoS Biology. In 2007, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Research Interests