Project properties
Title Biochemical properties underlying functional divergence in transcriptional regulation in plants transcription factors
Group Biochemistry, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 21-39
Supervisor(s) Dr. Jorge Hernández-García
Examiner(s) Prof. Dr. Dolf Weijers
Contact info Jorge.hernandezgarcia@wur.nl
Begin date 2023/02/01
End date 2024/12/31
Description The transcriptional state of a gene in a given moment can range from activated to repressed, but this state is defined by the concerted action of multiple mechanisms. One of these is the transcriptional activity of specific transcription factors, which usually act either as activators and repressors. The auxin signalling pathway includes a good example in its defining transcription factors (ARFs) to study the evolution of these properties. Some ARFs act as activators (A-class), and others as repressors (B- and C-class). In this project, we propose to analyse the underlying ability of different ARFs to act as activators and repressors, and also how these two functions diverged and evolved from ancestral forms.
We will combine heterologous assays in model plants with synthetic approaches in yeast to analyse this property.
Used skills General molecular biology, plant in vitro culture, cloning, transactivation assays, N. benthamiana agrobacterium infiltration
Requirements Basic knowledge of molecular biology and plant biology