Identification of a novel small bioactive molecule and its effect on stomata development

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Commercially available, small bio active molecules such as antibiotics and distinctive pesticides have been used for different purposes to increase public health on a global scale. Besides for the common usage, bio active molecules become more and more important for basic research, since they provide an alternative to the so far known classical genetic methods, through modulation but not overall changes within a biological system. In collaboration with the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM) in Nagoya, the Torii laboratory performed a phenotype-based chemical screen with Arabidopsis wildtype seedlings to identify novel bioactive small compounds, influencing stomata development. A small bioactive molecule named Kc9 has been identified to increase the number of stomata in a dose dependent manner. Based on preliminary phenotypical and biochemical analyses, the current hypothesis is that Kc9 acts as molecular switch between stomata development and plant immunity by either direct or indirect targeting of MPK3/MPK6. Thus, cytosolic pyruvate kinases have been identified to be the potential target of Kc9 in a 1D-DART assay. The Walter Benjamin Programme would give me the opportunity to investigate this new small bio active molecule and its role during stomata development in more detail. Within this scope of this fellowship I plan to confirm and further characterize the potential target of Kc9 both in vitro as well in planta. Furthermore, I try to decipher the molecular regulation behind key downstream effectors of stomatal differentiation such as MPK3/MPK6 as well the molecular network and their crosstalk more closely.