I am an early career research fellow in the plant biology group. My research focuses on the nuclear envelope in plants. I first became interested in this research area during my PhD studies (2005-2008) in the lab of Prof David Evans, also in the plant biology group. Previous to this I completed my BSc in Cell and Human Biology here at Oxford Brookes University.

In eukaryotic cells the genetic material is surrounded by a membrane system called the nuclear envelope (NE). In plants, this membrane is poorly understood in terms of how it functions and what it consists of. My research focuses on studying protein components of the plant NE. During my PhD studies I identified two such proteins – the Sad1/Unc84 (SUN) domain proteins. I’m using cell and molecular biology techniques, biochemistry as well as microscopy to characterise the plant SUN proteins. This includes finding out what other proteins the SUNs bind to and what functions they have during cell division.

Cook G.S., Gronlund A.L., Siciliano I., Spadafora N., Amini M., Herbert R.J., Bitonti M.B., Graumann K., Frnacis D., Rogers H.J., (2013), Plant WEE1 kinase is cell cycle regulated and removed at mitosis via the 26S proteasome machinery. Journal of Experimental Botany, DOI 10.1093/jxb/ert066 Graumann K., Bass H.W. and Parry G., (2013), “SUNrises on the International Plant Nucleus Consortium: SEB Salzburg 2012”, Nucleus, 4, (1) Graumann K. and Evans D.E., (2013), “The Nuclear Envelope – Structure and Protein Interactions”, In: Graumann K, Bryant J and Evans D., Plant Nuclear Structure and Genome Architecture and Regulation, In: Annual Plant Reviews, 46, 19-56 Zhou X, Graumann K, Evans DE and Meier I, (2012), “Novel plant KASH-SUN bridges are involved in RanGAP anchoring and nuclear shape determination”, JCB, 196, (2), 203-211 Sparkes I.A., Graumann K., Martiniere A., Schoberer J., Wang P. and Osterrieder A., (2011), “Bleach it, bounce it, cut it, pull it – using lasers to reveal plant cell dynamics”, Journal of Experimental Botany, 62, (1), 1-7 Graumann K. and Evans D.E., (2011), “Nuclear envelope dynamics during plant cell division suggest common mechanisms between kingdoms”, Biochemical Journal Cell, 435, (3), 661-667 Graumann K., Runions J. and Evans D.E. (2010), “Characterisation of SUN-domain proteins at the higher plant nuclear envelope”, The Plant Journal, 61, (1), 134-144 Evans D.E., Shvedunova M. and Graumann K., (2010), “The nuclear envelope in the plant cell cycle: structure, function and regulation”, Annals of Botany, 107, (7), 1111-1118 Graumann K., Runions J. and Evans D.E., (2010), “Nuclear Envelope Proteins and their Role in nuclear Positioning and Replication”, Biochemical Society Transactions, 38, (3), 741-746