Catherine Colas des Francs-Small

Catherine Colas des Francs-Small is a Research Fellow at the School of Molecular Sciences and ARC Centre for Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on plant mitochondrial and chloroplast gene expression, particularly the role of pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins in regulating organelle RNA processing. She holds a PhD from Orsay-Paris-Sud University (1985) and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh and CNRS in France.

Her research interests include organelle genome expression, RNA-binding proteins, and applications of synthetic PPR proteins in agriculture and medicine. She has contributed to understanding RNA editing mechanisms in plant mitochondria and chloroplasts, with a focus on PPR protein functions and their engineering for targeted RNA manipulation.

Recent work includes studies on U-to-C RNA editing in lycophytes, mitochondrial ATP synthase regulation via PPR-mediated mRNA knockdown, and the structural role of C-terminal domains in fertility-restorer proteins. Her research bridges fundamental biology with practical applications in crop improvement.

Collaborations span international institutions, and her work has been published in journals like Plant Physiology, New Phytologist, and Plant Journal. She actively contributes to the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, advancing plant energy systems research.