= B. W. Poovaiah
{c}
<B. W. Poovaiah> is a researcher in <plant> <signal transduction>, particularly the roles of <calcium ions> and <calmodulin>. His laboratory's research connects these intracellular signals to <plant> growth and responses to other organisms.<B. W. Poovaiah research profile at Washington State University>[Research summary: calcium/calmodulin-mediated signaling and plant growth]{ref}
With <K. Veluthambi>, <B. W. Poovaiah> investigated how <auxin> affects developing <strawberries>. Removing the surface <achenes> stopped growth and altered the pattern of <polypeptides> detected by <SDS-PAGE>. Applying the synthetic <auxin> <naphthaleneacetic acid> restored growth and the appearance of several development-associated <polypeptides>.<Auxin-regulated polypeptide changes at different stages of strawberry fruit development by K. Veluthambi and B. W. Poovaiah>[Abstract: achene removal, synthetic-auxin rescue and protein-gel comparisons]{ref}
The experiment illustrates a useful strategy for investigating a biological signal: remove its normal source, then ask whether supplying a candidate signal restores the response. Recovery of both growth and a molecular readout makes the proposed connection more informative than a simple correlation between fruit size and <protein> abundance. The <SDS-PAGE> bands report molecular changes; their appearance alone does not identify each <protein>'s function.
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