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Project properties |
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| Title | Regulation of arbuscule development |
| Group | Molecular Biology, Laboratory of |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 12-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Dr ir E Limpens |
| Examiner(s) | Prof dr T Bisseling |
| Contact info | erik.limpens@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2018/11/01 |
| End date | 2021/01/01 |
| Description | Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi establish a symbiosis with the vast majority of all land plants. The fungi colonize plant roots, where they are hosted inside root cortex cells forming highly branched fungal structures called arbuscules. Here, the fungi deliver minerals from the soil (especially phosphate and fixed nitrogen) to the plant, for which they get sugars and lipids in return.
The ability to host AM fungi inside cells requires a reprogramming of root cortex cells, which is controlled by a signaling cascade initiated between fungus and plant. Several key transcription factors controlling arbuscule formation, branching and maintenance have been identified. From our cell-specific transcriptome analyses additional potential key transcriptional regulators have been identified. In this project we try to unravel how different factors work and connect in a transcriptional network to control arbuscule development in the model plant Medicago truncatula. |
| Used skills | A selection of techniques that are used:
- Golden Gate and Gateway cloning to create fluorescent/tagged proteins, overexpression, promoter-GUS, and RNAi constructs - CRISPR-cas9, RNAi or retrotansposon-tagged lines in Medicago to study gene knock-outs/knock-downs - Protein-protein interactions (Y2H, co-IP, BiFC) - Analysis of promoter activity in planta by confocal laser microscopy - Gene expression analysis by way of quantitative RT-PCR. |
| Requirements | For BSc thesis: MOB20306
For MSc thesis: MOB20306 and and MOB30306 or MOB31303 or MOB30806 or PHP30806 or equivalent |