Sally Assmann

About

Sally Assmann is the Waller Professor of Biology at Penn State University. Her research focuses on the molecular biology of plant G-proteins and kinases, phytohormone regulation of signal transduction, and RNA processing. She investigates second messenger regulation of ion channels in plant cells, contributing to the understanding of plant signal transduction mechanisms. Her work has provided insights into plant decision-making processes, energy management, and stress responses, with implications for crop improvement and agricultural resilience.

Research topics

• Biology
• Cell biology
• Biochemistry
• Biophysics
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Ecology
• Biological system
• Genetics

Selected publications

• RNA multimerization as an organizing force for liquid–liquid phase separation

  RNA · 2021 · 60 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  RNA interactions are exceptionally strong and highly redundant. As such, nearly any two RNAs have the potential to interact with one another over relatively short stretches, especially at high RNA concentrations. This is especially true for pairs of RNAs that do not form strong self-structure. Such phenomena can drive liquid-liquid phase separation, either solely from RNA-RNA interactions in the presence of divalent or organic cations, or in concert with proteins. RNA interactions can drive mult…

  DOI

• Rock, scissors, paper: How RNA structure informs function

  The Plant Cell · 2023-02-07 · 59 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  RNA can fold back on itself to adopt a wide range of structures. These range from relatively simple hairpins to intricate 3D folds and can be accompanied by regulatory interactions with both metabolites and macromolecules. The last 50 yr have witnessed elucidation of an astonishing array of RNA structures including transfer RNAs, ribozymes, riboswitches, the ribosome, the spliceosome, and most recently entire RNA structuromes. These advances in RNA structural biology have deepened insight into f…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Genome-wide analysis of the <i>in vivo</i> tRNA structurome reveals RNA structural and modification dynamics under heat stress

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022-06-13 · 51 citations

  articleOpen access

  RNA structure plays roles in myriad cellular events including transcription, translation, and RNA processing. Genome-wide analyses of RNA secondary structure in vivo by chemical probing have revealed critical structural features of mRNAs and long ncRNAs. Here, we examine the in vivo secondary structure of a small RNA class, tRNAs. Study of tRNA structure is challenging because tRNAs are heavily modified and strongly structured. We introduce “tRNA structure-seq,” a new workflow that accurately de…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A G protein-coupled receptor-like module regulates cellulose synthase secretion from the endomembrane system in Arabidopsis

  Developmental Cell · 2021 · 48 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tissue-specific changes in the RNA structurome mediate salinity response in <i>Arabidopsis</i>

  RNA · 2020 · 38 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  under salinity stress, which negatively impacts agriculture. Structure-seq utilizes dimethyl sulfate reactivity to identify As and Cs that lack base-pairing or protection. Salt stress refolded transcripts differentially in root versus shoot, evincing tissue specificity of the structurome. Both tissues exhibited an inverse correlation between salt stress-induced changes in transcript reactivity and changes in abundance, with stress-related mRNAs showing particular structural dynamism. This invers…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Regulation of heterotrimeric G protein signaling by subunit phosphorylation

  NIH · $1.2M · 2018–2023

• COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Metabolomic Characterization of Red Light and CO2 Signaling in Guard Cells and Mesophyll Cells

  NSF · $723k · 2012–2018

• Systems Biology of Plant Heterotrimeric G-protein Signaling in Overlapping Pathways Regulating Stomatal Closure

  NSF · $900k · 2017–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Philip C. Bevilacqua

  42 shared

• Sona Pandey

  Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

  23 shared

• Alan M. Jones

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  20 shared

• David Chakravorty

  Pennsylvania State University

  18 shared

• Ángel Ferrero‐Serrano

  Pennsylvania State University

  15 shared

• José Ramón Botella

  University of Queensland

  15 shared

• Yin Tang

  Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University

  14 shared

• Réka Albert

  14 shared

Labs

• Assmann LabPI

Awards & honors

• Plant biologist awarded the Masatoshi Nei Innovation Prize i…

Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University

• J. Martin Bollingerh-74
• Seth Bordensteinh-64