Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Michael Busche

Michael Busche, first author of TOR coordinates nucleotide availability with ribosome biogenesis in plants

Current Position: Graduate Student at the University of California-Berkeley

Education: BS in Biochemistry and Plant Genetics from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Non-scientific Interests: reading, dancing, and gardening

Brief bio: I began graduate school at the University of California-Berkeley in 2016. I soon joined Dr. Sarah Hake’s lab and started working closely with Dr. Jake Brunkard. With Dr. Brunkard, I performed a screen in Nicotiana benthamiana to find essential genes that promote TOR activity and identified PRS4 as one such gene. Exploring TOR’s role as a coordinator of ribosome biogenesis with nucleotide availability quickly became my main focus. Now, I am excited to continue exploring TOR’s role in plant metabolism and development.