Anthony Postiglione: Plant Physiology First Author

Anthony Postiglione, first author of “Abscisic Acid Increases Hydrogen Peroxide in Mitochondria to Facilitate Stomatal Closure”

Current Position: PhD student at Wake Forest University

Education: B.S. from Florida State University. M.S. from North Carolina A&T State University.

Non-scientific Interests: I am an avid fan of many sports. I spend most of my free time golfing, gaming, or getting involved in random activities with my family.

Brief bio: My scientific curiosity began as a child while growing up on a family-owned plant nursery. My frequent questioning of why some plants appeared healthier than others or why we only saw certain plants at specific times of year drove me to pursue a career in research. I first became interested in reactive oxygen species as signaling molecules during my master’s project that evaluated how subtle alterations to redox signaling could lead to critical changes in mitogen activated protein kinase signaling pathways. I decided to blend my affinities for both plant biology and redox signaling for my PhD. My projects focus on the role that redox balance plays in fine-tuning plant response to two environmental stressors that are increasing in prominence alongside climate change: drought and heat. Changes in reactive oxygen species accumulation is a hallmark of many signal transduction cascades in plants. However, if left unchecked, reactive oxygen species can quickly yield deleterious cellular outcomes. Therefore, a better understanding of the nuanced effects of redox signaling during plant response to environmental stimuli could provide us with the ability to engineer plants that are better suited to deal with our changing environment.