Jim Carrington has come a long way since first stepping into a research laboratory as an undergraduate at the University of California, Riverside.

Research in the Carrington lab focuses on RNA-mediated regulation and silencing of genomes, genes and viruses. This lab focuses on the biogenesis, functions, and evolution of small RNA-directed silencing pathways in multicellular eukaryotes. Small RNA-based silencing serves a regulatory mechanism during growth and development and in response to stress. It also functions as a transposon and repeat silencing mechanism, and as an antiviral response in plants and some animals. The Carrington lab uses a combination of genetics, genomics, computation and other approaches to address fundamental mechanistic problems using model systems, but it also seeks to develop tools and approaches that have practical relevance in crop plants. The lab is particularly interested in the underlying mechanisms, including small RNA mechanisms, that govern plant-virus and plant-microbe interactions.

HTS studies in a variety of plants and other organisms have revealed the diversity of ancient and recently evolved miRNA genes, and vast arrays of siRNAs from long dsRNA. The systematic analysis of mutants with defects in miRNA and siRNA function revealed several distinct biogenesis pathways for each class, and target RNAs that are regulated by small RNA families. Distinct small RNA biogenesis and effector components are involved in transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing systems in plants. They have explored biogenesis, effector and specificity mechanisms of miRNA, trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA), antiviral siRNA, and other small RNA classes using Arabidopsis thaliana.