Congratulations to Aman Husbands, whose NSF grant entitled “Context-dependent activity of an essential transcription factor” was recently funded for over $1,000,000 over the next 3 years. This collaborative grant examines the mechanisms that allow multicellular organisms to acquire their complex shapes through carefully controlled developmental processes. The project focuses on the ability of transcription factors to coordinate the specificity and function of cells and tissues using CLASS III HOMEODOMAIN-LEUCINE ZIPPER (HD-ZIPIII) TFs as a mode. While the actions of many transcription factors are limited to only a few cells or a subset of tissues, other transcription factors play key roles in a large number of developing tissues. The funded work will use techniques of genetics and biochemistry, including advances in high-resolution mapping of protein-protein interactions to answer the critical biological question: how can the same transcription factor generate different developmental outcomes? Justin W. Walley of Iowa State University will serve as a coPI.