Temperature dependent modulation of plant heat stress transcription factor activities by alternative splicing

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Heat stress response in plants is a complex phenomenon involving massive re-organization of many cellular processes. Heat stress transcription factors (Hsf) drive the upregulation of stress-related proteins which are vital for survival and recovery from stress. The activity of Hsfs is subjected to multilevel control mechanisms during different phases of stress response, including regulation of transcript abundance, protein complex formation and protein degradation. Recent results suggest that pre-mRNA splicing affects the abundance and Hsfs during stress as well. This project aims to decipher the functional relevance of the observed alternative splicing on the abundance and activity of Hsfs as well as the molecular details of the process of stress-related alternative splicing. The project focuses on the identification of gene-specific features like cis-elements and RNA structure as well as splicing factors that are involved in temperaturespecific pre-mRNA splicing. Beyond Hsfs, the global effect of alternative splicing on transcriptome changes and its relation to the capacity of plants to withstand high temperature stress will be investigated. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is used as model organism and therefore we foresee that the findings will foster the development of new tools for improvement of the current germplasm in terms of heat stress tolerance.