June Nasrallah

Our research is aimed at deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying the highly specific pollen-stigma interactions that ultimately lead either to successful pollination and seed production or to inhibition of pollen tube growth and failure to set seed. Out-crossing and self-fertilizing members of the Brassicaceae family, including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and its close relatives, are used for mechanistic studies of receptor/ligand-based pollination responses and for understanding the evolution of mating systems.

Selected Journal Articles

• Li, L., Liu, B., Deng, X., Zhao, H., Li, H., Xing, S., Fetzen, D.D., Li, M., Nasrallah M.E., Nasrallah, J.B., Liu, P. 2018. Evolution of interspecies unilateral incompatibility in the relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana. Mol. Ecol. DOI: 10.1111/mec.14707.
• Yamamoto, M., Nishio, T., Nasrallah, J.B. 2018. Activation of self-incompatibility signaling in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana is independent of AP2-based clathrin-mediated endocytosis. G3 (Bethesda) pii: g3.200231.2018. doi: 10.1534/g3.118.200231
• Ma, R., Han, Z, Hu, Z., Lin, G., Gong, L., Zhang, H, Nasrallah, J.B., Chai, J. 2016. Structural basis for specific self-incompatibility response in Brassica.  Cell Res. 26, 1320-1329.
• Tantikanjana, T. and Nasrallah, J.B. 2015. Ligand-mediated cis-inhibition of receptor signaling in the self-incompatibility response of the Brassicaceae. Plant Phys. 169, 1141–1154.
• Rea, A.C. and Nasrallah, J.B. 2015. In vivo imaging of the S-locus receptor kinase, the female specificity determinant of self-incompatibility, in transgenic self-incompatible Arabidopsis thaliana. Ann. Bot. 115, 789-805.
• Tantikanjana, T. and Nasrallah, J.B. 2012. Non-cell-autonomous regulation of crucifer self-incompatibility by Auxin Response Factor ARF3.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 19468-19473.
• Tantikanjana, T., Rizvi, N., Nasrallah, M. E., & Nasrallah, J. B. (2009). A Dual Role for the S-Locus Receptor Kinase in Self-Incompatibility and Pistil Development Revealed by an Arabidopsis rdr6 Mutation. The Plant Cell. 21:2642-2654.
• Nasrallah, M. E., Boggs, N. A., Dwyer, K. G., & Nasrallah, J. B. (2009). In vivo detection of residues required for ligand-selective activation of the S-locus receptor in Arabidopsis. Current Biology. 19:786-791.
• Boggs, N. A., Dwyer, K. G., Shah, P., McCulloch, A. A., Bechsgaard, J., Schierup, M. H., Nasrallah, M. E., & Nasrallah, J. B. (2009). Expression of Distinct Self-Incompatibility Specificities in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics. 182:1313-1321.
• Nasrallah, M.E., P. Liu, and Nasrallah, J.B. 2002. Generation of self-incompatible Arabidopsis thaliana by transfer of two S locus genes from A. lyrata.  Science 297: 247-249.

Book Chapter

• Nasrallah, J.B. 2019. Self-incompatibility in the Brassicaceae: Regulation and mechanism of self-recognition. Curr. Top. Dev. Biol. 131, 435-452. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2018.10.002.

• Elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2003)
• Recipient of the Martin Gibbs Medal from the American Society of Plant Biologists (2003)
• Appointment as Barbara McClintock Professor of Plant Biology, Cornell (2004)
• Career Achievement Award, Cornell CALS (2016) 
• President and Founding Member of the Lebanese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Nasrallah has taught graduate and undergraduate lecture and laboratory courses in plant molecular biology, focusing on plant development, cell-cell signaling, and generation and analysis of transgenic plants. She currently teaches PlBio 3430/5340 “Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of Plants.”