Project properties
Title Interaction between heat and drought stress in Arabidopsis seedlings
Group Plant Physiology, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 24-39
Supervisor(s) Dr. Francesca Giaume
Examiner(s) Prof. Dr. Christa Testerink
Contact info francesca.giaume@wur.nl AND thesis.PPH@wur.nl
Begin date 2024/04/01
End date 2025/04/01
Description Changing climate is predicted to amplify both the frequency and intensity of abiotic stress combinations, and poses a significant menace to plants, agricultural yield, and food supply.
Confronted with simultaneous stressors, plants undergo specific physiological and molecular responses while concurrently adjusting a range of metabolic pathways to counter adverse impacts on growth, development, and reproduction.
Notable contrasts are observed in the transcriptomic and metabolic profiles of plants exposed to combined drought and heat stress, diverging from responses observed under individual stress applications (Rizhsky et al., 2004; Rasmussen et al., 2013; Sewelam et al., 2014).

This project focuses on uncovering molecular cues for resilience in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings exposed to a combination of different temperatures and water availability, within the framework of the CropXR program (https://cropxr.org).

Within this project the student will exploit CRISPR/Cas9 technology to generate single and combine mutants of genes involved in heat and drought stresses response.

If you are interested in this project, please contact the supervisor via email with a copy to thesis.PPH@wur.nl with:
1. Your motivation for choosing this project
2. For which purpose (BSc or MSc thesis, research practice, etc)
3. Your BSc/MSc program
4. When you would like to start
Please be aware that if you do not provide the required information above it may cause a delay in our reply.
Used skills CRISPR cloning, plant transformation, selection of alleles made with CRISPR, bioinformatics experience (useful but not essential).
Requirements Knowledge of molecular biology
Affinity for molecular lab work
Have taken PPH courses PPH10806, PPH30306 and PPH30806, and/or other relevant courses in Plant Sciences/Biology.