Dr. Zhi-Liang Zheng, a biology professor and plant scientist in the Department of Biological Science, published a paper last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that demonstrates a connection between Rho GTPase and RNA polymerase II (Pol II), two key molecules involved in cellular signaling and transcription in eukaryotes. Eukaryotes are organisms whose cell contains a nucleus and other organelles and animals and plants are both eukaryotic organisms. Zheng and his colleagues have provided genetic and biochemical evidence that links these two molecules in an intracellular signaling pathway.