EAPSI: Investigating Stem Elongation as a Means to Increase Crop Productivity

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As sessile organisms, plants need to effectively sense and respond to their environment in order to survive. One way they accomplish this is through the perception and response to light. A key group of proteins involved in modulating light-mediated responses are the AHLs, a group of DNA-binding proteins that influence stem elongation in seedlings. Stem elongation is among the first crucial steps in plant development for many crop plants. As the climate continues to change, it is increasingly important for us to gain a better understanding of how stem elongation is controlled, as it will facilitate the improvement of crop varieties that can cope with such changes. This EAPSI fellowship will enable further investigation into the role AHLs play in stem elongation, and how this elongation is further regulated by plant hormones. This research will be conducted at the RIKEN Institute under the direction of Dr. Keiko Sugimoto, a leading expert in plant cell research.Using Arabidopsis as a model system, the overarching goal of this research is to understand how light mediates seedling growth. One key group of genes involved in this process is the AT-HOOK MOTIF NUCLEAR LOCALIED (AHL) gene family. AHL29/SUPRESSOR OF PHYTOCHROME B-4 (SOB3) directly regulates the auxin-associated genes YUCCA8 (YUC8) and members of the SMALL AUXIN UP RNA 19 (SAUR19) subfamily during seedling development. SOB3 is able to modulate hypocotyl elongation in seedlings, at least in part, by repressing transcription of the aforementioned genes. Since YUC8 and members of the SAUR19 subfamily are directly involved in phytohormone pathways, ChIP-Seq will be used to test the hypothesis that SOB3 binds to the promoters of additional genes associated with plant-specific hormone pathways, such as gibberellic acid, cytokinins, and jasmonic acid. Additionally, hypocotyl elongation assays will be performed using sob mutants and the aforementioned hormones to further investigate these interactions.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.