Georgia Drakakaki
· Associate ProfessorUniversity of California, Davis · Plant Biology
Active 2000–2026
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About
Georgia Drakakaki is a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, serving as an At-Large Representative on the faculty. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia/John Innes Center in the UK, a Master’s from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania in Greece, and a Bachelor’s from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Her research focuses on endomembrane trafficking in plant cells, particularly how these pathways control cell wall biosynthesis, polysaccharide deposition, and plant stress responses. Drakakaki’s group employs multidisciplinary approaches including chemical genomics, organelle proteomics, glycomics, and genetics to dissect mechanisms involved in plant cytokinesis, cell wall formation, and responses to salinity and drought stress. Her notable contributions include the identification and characterization of small molecules such as Endosidin 7, which affects cell plate maturation during plant cytokinesis, and the development of 4D in vivo imaging methodologies to study vesicle distribution during cell wall formation. Her team has characterized protein and polysaccharide cargo transported through trans-Golgi network vesicles, identifying new components involved in plant development and stress response. Drakakaki also develops imaging tools for detecting ions at the subcellular level in woody plants, aiding in the understanding of salinity and drought stress mechanisms. She is actively involved in teaching higher plant cell…
Research topics
- Botany
- Biology
- Cell biology
- Biochemistry
- Agronomy
- Chemistry
- Horticulture
- Ecology
Selected publications
Plant cytokinesis and the construction of new cell wall
FEBS Letters · 2022 · 31 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingCytokinesis in plants is fundamentally different from that in animals and fungi. In plant cells, a cell plate forms through the fusion of cytokinetic vesicles and then develops into the new cell wall, partitioning the cytoplasm of the dividing cell. The formation of the cell plate entails multiple stages that involve highly orchestrated vesicle accumulation, fusion and membrane maturation, which occur concurrently with the timely deposition of polysaccharides such as callose, cellulose and cross…
Investigation of Salt Tolerance Mechanisms Across a Root Developmental Gradient in Almond Rootstocks
Frontiers in Plant Science · 2021 · 31 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingThe intensive use of groundwater in agriculture under the current climate conditions leads to acceleration of soil salinization. Given that almond is a salt-sensitive crop, selection of salt-tolerant rootstocks can help maintain productivity under salinity stress. Selection for tolerant rootstocks at an early growth stage can reduce the investment of time and resources. However, salinity-sensitive markers and salinity tolerance mechanisms of almond species to assist this selection process are la…
Journal of Cell Science · 2020 · 22 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingThe evolutionary implications of cytokinetic callose in this unicellular zygnematopycean alga is discussed in the context of the conquest of land by plants.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Best practices in plant fluorescence imaging and reporting: A primer
The Plant Cell · 2025-06-28 · 6 citations
reviewOpen accessMicroscopy is a fundamental approach for plant cell and developmental biology as well as an essential tool for mechanistic studies in plant research. However, setting up a new microscopy-based experiment can be challenging, especially for beginner users, when implementing new imaging workflows or when working in an imaging facility where staff may not have extensive experience with plant samples. The basic principles of optics, chemistry, imaging, and data handling are shared among all cell type…
In a nutshell: pistachio genome and kernel development
New Phytologist · 2025-03-19 · 6 citations
articleOpen accessPistachio is a sustainable nut crop with exceptional climate resilience and nutritional value. However, the molecular processes underlying pistachio nut development and nutritional traits are largely unknown, compounded by limited genomic and molecular resources. To advance pistachios as a future food source and a model system for hard-shelled fruits, we generated a chromosome-scale reference genome of the most widely grown pistachio cultivar (Pistacia vera 'Kerman') and a spatiotemporal study o…
Recent grants
Dissecting molecular mechanisms of plant cytokinesis and cell plate development
NSF · $1.2M · 2018–2024
Dissection Of Polysaccharide Deposition And Assembly Into Plant Cell Walls
NSF · $575k · 2013–2019
Frequent coauthors
- 90 shared
Minmin Wang
University of California, Davis
- 74 shared
Hayley Sussman
- 74 shared
Miguel A. Piñeros
Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health
- 74 shared
Mashael Daghash Alqahtani
- 74 shared
Łukasz Jaremko
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- 74 shared
Liang Yu
Cornell University
- 74 shared
Yunfei Hu
Wageningen University & Research
- 74 shared
Ronell Sicat
Lanzhou University
Awards & honors
- Greek Diaspora Fellowship, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (2016…
- Excellence in Education Finalist, College of Agricultural an…
- Hellman Fellowship (2012)
- Zhang awarded NIFA fellowship to study pistachio (2023)
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