Project properties
Title <b> Selfing under stress: </b> Can insect herbivory change a plant reproductive pathway?
Group Entomology, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 30-39
Supervisor(s) Hanneke Suijkerbuijk, Erik Poelman
Examiner(s) Marcel Dicke
Contact info hanneke.suijkerbuijk@wur.nl
Begin date 2023/05/01
End date 2023/12/01
Description This project covers the exciting new ground of induced biotic stress pathways and their interactions with a plant reproductive pathway. As sessile organisms, plants have to deal with stresses while maintaining their fitness. In the case of insect herbivory, many hormonal pathways are upregulated. Studies have shown that plants can respond to stress by showing plasticity in their reproductive strategies. For example, in mixed mating systems, stress induced by insect feeding can lead to an increase in self-pollination.

Other species, such as the Brassicaceae are self-incompatible, and generally aren’t able to self-pollinate. The genetic and molecular mechanisms of self-incompatibility (SI) have been extensively studied in Brassica rapa. However, very little is known about how these mechanisms respond to stress. Previously, increased temperatures and high levels of CO2 have been shown to result in a breakdown of SI. Could biotic stresses do the same? And through what mechanism?

In this project, you will study how SI and pollen acceptance in the stigma of Brassica rapa are affected by hormones involved in various insect defense pathways. It involves developing the culturing flowers/stigmas on (treated) media, fluorescence microscopy to visualize pollen acceptance, and qPCR experiments to study stress-induced changes in gene expression.

Flexible start date
Used skills qPCR, confocal microscopy, tissue culture
Requirements For doing a MSc-thesis or internship at Entomology, the following requirements apply: ENT-30806 + a second ENT-course (preferably ENT-30306 or ENT-50806 or ENT-53806). As an alternative for the second ENT-course, PHP-30806 or BHE-30306 can be selected.
Note: these requirements do not apply for MBI students; MBI students should check the requirements for doing an ENT MSc-thesis or internship in the study programme of their specialisation.