We now know that RNAs reside in the leaf surface (Borniego et al. 2025). In the near term, my goal is to uncover the features that define how RNAs are secreted and stabilized outside the cell. By profiling exRNAs across tissues such as leaves, roots, and nodules, and by mapping their post-transcriptional modifications, I will test whether certain motifs or chemical marks act as “ZIP codes” that guide secretion. This is a tractable line of research, supported by high-throughput sequencing, labeling, and bioinformatic pipelines that I already employ, and will generate immediate insights into exRNA diversity. I will also work on understanding what genes are implicated, directly or indirectly, in the export and accumulation of exRNA using reverse genetics approaches with available mutant collections. The first targeted mutant collections will be cell wall and cuticle mutants, small RNA biogenesis genes (including tRNAs), and exo- and endoribonucleases generated in my lab using CRISPR systems. 

Looking further ahead, I aim to ask whether these signatures represent a universal RNA communication code that transcends species boundaries. If true, it would imply that plants, microbes, and even other kingdoms of life share conserved mechanisms for interpreting RNA signals. This long-term ambition is higher risk but has transformative potential: by designing and expressing synthetic RNA ZIP codes, and knocking out existing ones using Cas13, we could experimentally direct RNA mobility, opening new possibilities for crop engineering and microbiome manipulation.