Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Lisa-Marie Schmid

Lisa-Marie Schmid, first author of PUMPKIN, the sole Plastid UMP Kinase, Associates with Group II Introns and Alters Their Metabolism

Current Position: PhD student in the group of PD Dr. Jörg Meurer, Leister lab, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, München, Germany

Education: B.Sc. Biology and M.Sc. Biology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, München, Germany

Non-scientific Interests: Yoga, Gardening, Knitting

Brief bio: Already early during my education I became interested in plant sciences and molecular biology. After finishing my bachelor thesis on the evolution of mTERF proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana, I intensified my work on various aspects of chloroplast RNA metabolism and joined the group of Dr. Jörg Meurer (LMU Munich). Under the supervision of Dr. Nikolay Manavski I started my master thesis on the functional characterization of the PUMPKIN protein, the sole plastid UMP kinase which associates with several group II introns and impacts their metabolism, which I pursued during my doctoral studies as a member of the LSM Graduate School. I will continue this project to decipher the contribution of the RNA-binding activity and the UMP kinase function of PUMPKIN in plant acclimation and will further explore additional chloroplast RNA-binding proteins.