Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Harriet Parsons
Harriet Parsons, co-first author and corresponding author of Separating Golgi Proteins from Cis to Trans Reveals Underlying Properties of Cisternal Localization
Current position: Maternity leave until 2020
Education: PhD in Plant Biochemistry, University of Edinburgh
Non-specific interests: Hiking, sea-kayaking, growing my own vegetables.
Brief Bio: I started my scientific career in Prof. Stephen Fry’s group in Edinburgh studying ascorbate transport in response to stress. This ignited my interest in subcellular co-ordination and my enduring interest in the Golgi apparatus. When I started my post-doctoral position with Dr. Josh Heazelwood at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the plant Golgi was an elusive and under-researched organelle. After completing a Marie Curie IEF fellowship with Prof. Peter Ulvskov at Copenhagen University and a Det Frie Forskningsråd fellowship in Prof. Kathryn Lilley’s group at Cambridge University, the Golgi is now marginally less elusive. Analysis of transmembrane spans of proteins from cis-, medial and trans-Golgi cisternae means we can begin to understand how the spatial organization of proteins with the Golgi stack is controlled. The mass spectrometry and bioinformatic skills I developed in Prof. Lilley’s group have enabled collaborations with Cambridge University Department of Plant Sciences and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, which I look forward to continuing after I return to work.
