Genetic dissection of signaling processes regulating response to elevated ambient temperatures in Arabidopsis thaliana

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Marcel Quint
• Subject Area: Plant Physiology ; Plant Genetics and Genomics
• Term: from 2012 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 223862977

Global climate change poses a significant threat to biodiversity in general, and with regard to this proposal especially to plant growth and productivity. From an agricultural point of view, crop performance is predicted to suffer greatly due to global warming, while food production is required to increase significantly to sustain a growing and more demanding world population. Based on these predictions, it seems useful to generate a basic understanding of what increased ambient temperatures cause on a developmental and physiological level. As in various other fields that have meanwhile found their way into breeding programs (flowering time, etc.), the preferred system for genetic dissection of thermomorphogenesis signaling is the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified several mutants in a mutagenesis screen that show defects in warmth-induced growth responses. Cloning of the first genes and characterization of their role has identified new players in the thermomorphogenesis signaling pathway. In this proposal, we aim to a) identify additional novel components of this pathway, and b) elucidate the details of the molecular mechanism of BZR1 function in this process. As an outcome of this project, we anticipate to further advance the understanding of how plants process temperature stimuli and translate them into growth responses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants