Novel transcription factors in higher plant plastids

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Chloroplasts are the plant organelles in which photosynthesis takes place, the process which is the base for life on our planet. They possess own DNA which encodes important components of the photosynthetic apparatus and a chloroplast-own gene expression machinery. Regulation of this machinery depends on the import of nucleus- encoded regulatory factors; however, most of them are still unknown. Known basic components as RNA polymerases and sigma factors are not sufficient to explain the complex and dynamic transcription changes which occur during acclimation of plants to varying environmental conditions. Our results from biochemistry and bioinformatics indicate the existence of several eukaryotic-type transcription factors in plastids which appear to be responsible for such changes. The proposed project aims to identify and characterise such novel transcription factors in chloroplasts by combination of biochemical and molecular techniques. The results will be of high importance for our understanding of chloroplast gene expression and plant responses to the environment which has highly relevant for biotechnology applications in the field of sustainable biomass, energy and agriculture.