One area of research in the Meyers lab uses bioinformatics and laboratory-based approaches to examine gene expression (mRNA) and small RNA in plants.  We use short-read sequencing technologies for these studies and have developed a unique set of analytical tools and databases. These data are being used to determine patterns of gene expression under different developmental conditions or in different genetic backgrounds, to identify novel genes, and to understand the relationship between the position of a gene and its expression. We are now starting to extend our studies of plant small RNAs into related areas such as analyses of the “epigenome” - a heritable change that is not a result of a change in DNA sequence, but instead a chemical modification of nucleotides in the DNA or its associated proteins. These technologies and approaches are being applied to many plant species, but with a particular emphasis on two of the plant model systems, Arabidopsis and rice. We have also created databases, and query & analysis tools to enable the use of these data for the scientific community (available at http://mpss.udel.edu).
Another area of research focuses on plant disease resistance genes and related sequences. The Nucleotide Binding Site-Leucine Rich Repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins encoded by many resistance genes provide the first line of defense in many specific plant-pathogen interactions. Approximately 150 of these proteins are encoded in the Arabidopsis Col-0 genome; 50 contain an N-terminal coiled-coil (CC) domain and 100 contain an N-terminal Toll-like (TIR) domain. We have the long-term goal of understanding both the evolution of these genes and the relationship between sequence, structure and protein function.