Evolution of B-GATA transcription factors in land plants

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Claus Schwechheimer
• Subject Area: Plant Cell and Developmental Biology ; Plant Physiology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 503187060

This project aims at understanding the biology and evolution of B-class GATA transcription factors in land plants. Angiosperm B-class GATAs are subdivided into HAN- or an LLM-domain. Whereas the LLM-domain is already present in algal B-GATAs, the HAN-domain is a land plant-specific invention. My laboratory recently discovered that B-GATAs from the bryophytes Marchantia polymorphia and Physcomitrium patens contain HAN- and LLM-domains. This puts us now in the position of studying the evolutionary history of HAN- and LLM-domain B-GATAs, the conservation and divergence in regulating conserved and divergent biological processes, as well as the contribution of the two protein domains to B-GATA function. Specifically, I propose here to study the evolutionary conservation of previously known GATA functions and to analyse their new roles in nitrogen and cytokinin responses in great detail using physiological analyses in combination with transcriptomics and genetics. Using Marchantia and Physcomitrium B-GATA gene mutants I propose to examine the role and interdependence of the LLM-and HAN-domains in the biological context.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants