Bonnie Bartel

Dr. Bonnie Bartel is the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Rice University. Bartel uses the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana to study the biosynthesis and regulation of the plant hormone auxin, which plays critical roles in regulating cell expansion, division, and differentiation in response to developmental and environmental cues. Bartel has identified genes providing inputs to the auxin pool, distinguished precursors from active auxin, elucidated the contributions of different auxin biosynthetic pathways to development, identified enzymes catalyzing the synthesis of auxin from precursors, discovered compartmentalization of auxin production, and revealed the developmental importance of different auxin sources. Bartel's discovery of a peroxisome-housed auxin biosynthetic pathway led her to investigate the biogenesis, function, and dynamics of this vital organelle, which serves to compartmentalize certain metabolic reactions and protects the cytosol from oxidative damage. Using peroxisome-defective mutants, she has revealed conserved import factors, unanticipated interdependencies among biogenesis components, and a novel pathway degrading peroxisomal proteins during organelle remodeling. In addition, Bartel co-discovered plant microRNAs, which were originally identified in nematodes. She deciphered functions of several microRNA-mRNA target pairs by developing the dual approach of overexpressing microRNAs to reveal loss-of-target-gene phenotypes and expressing microRNA-resistant targets from native promoters to uncover loss-of-microRNA regulation phenotypes. 

Bartel's ongoing research is focused on plant peroxisome dynamics - how these organelles are synthesized, maintained, and turned over to support various plant processes. In addition to her research roles, Dr. Bartel is involved as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in developing programs to involve undergraduate students in research and support their exploration of career options in the sciences. 

Dr. Bartel received her BA from Bethel College, her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her post-doctoral training at the Whitehead Institute. She has received numerous awards for her research and mentoring, including: Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2016), Fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists (2011), the Rice University Presidential Mentoring Award (2011), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007), the Rice University Charles Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement (2005), and the Bethel College Young Alumni Award (2001). Her publications have appeared in various journals including Cell, Nature Chemical Biology, Plant Cell, and Plant Physiology.