Transcriptional control of the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to hypoxic stress

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Angelika Mustroph
• Subject Area: Plant Physiology
• Term: from 2010 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 192861895

Oxygen is essential for the growth and development of eukaryotes. However, many organisms can survive short periods of oxygen deficiency stress, which can occur in dense tissues with high metabolic activity, or during times of low oxygen availability. Although plants are able to produce oxygen via photosynthesis, heterotrophic tissues may experience low oxygen conditions due to soil flooding, which subsequently leads to plant damages. Biochemical and morphological adaptations to oxygen deficiency stress in plants are already well characterized. Furthermore, changes in gene expression due to oxygen deficiency stress are already well described. However, the signal transduction pathways leading to these changes in gene expression are not well understood yet. Therefore, the goal of the project is the identification and characterization of transcription factors that are essential for the plant reactions to oxygen deficiency stress. Selected promoter segments which are strongly and specifically induced by hypoxia will be analyzed in a yeast-one-hybrid screen to detect transcription factors that bind to these promoters. After the identification of those transcription factors, they will be further characterized by the use of Arabidopsis mutants.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants