Thesis supervisor: László Szabados
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Institute of Plant Biology Biological Research Centre Hungarian Academy of Sciences Temesvári krt. 62., H-6726 Szeged, Hungary Abbreviation of location of studies: SzBK
Description of the research topic:
Proline accumulation in higher plants is a typical response to drought and salinity. Stress-induced proline accumulation in Arabidopsis is an abscisic acid (ABA) depending process, which induce P5CS and repress PDH genes, controlling proline biosynthesis and catabolism, respectively. Our recent studies revealed, that proline accumulation as well as P5CS1 activation and PDH1 repression depend on other environmental effects such as light and phosphate deficiency. Preliminary results show, that HY5, a central regulator of light responses, can bind to upstream regions of P5CS1 and PDH1. The proposed project will characterize molecular interactions of stress, hormonal and light signals, which regulate proline levels and turnover through the control of key metabolic genes. Binding of HY5 and other light and ABA-related transcription factors on promoters of P5CS1 and PDH1 will be verified in vivo (ChIP) and in vitro (EMSA). New type of promoter studies will be developed by disrupting the cis regulatory elements of the P5CS1 gene in situ, using CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing tools. Interactions of the studied transcription factors will be studied by immunoprecipitation and/or bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). Biological function of the TF coding genes will be studied by characterization their insertion mutants through complex phenotyping, physiological and metabolom analysis. The proposed research will help to understand molecular and genetic interactions of diverse light and ABA signaling factors, decipher complex molecular mechanisms which influence proline metabolism and tolerance to abiotic stress conditions.
Required language skills: English Recommended language skills (in Hungarian): Hungarian Further requirements: Basic skills in molecular biology, genetics, computer work (internet, word processing, etc.), interest in researcher career development.