Study the mechanisms of histone deacetylase HD2s in response to drought stress in plants

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In eukaryotes, the nucleosome is the basic and functional unit of chromatin. The nucleosome consists of DNA and histone proteins and DNA wraps on the histone octamer. The N-terminal tails of histone proteins are often subjected to different posttranslational modifications, such as acetylation. Histone acetylation is regulated by histone acetyltransferases (HAT) that catalyze hyper acetylation and histone deacetylases (HDACs) that catalyze deacetylation by removing the acetyl group from the core histones. Research has shown that the HDACs control a number of fundamental biological processes in plants, especially plant development and response to environmental stresses. Histone deacetylases are an ancient group of enzymes that are widely present in various organisms. Plants contain a specific group of HDACs, HD2s. HD2s show low levels of similarity in sequence and structure with other HDAC families and it appears HD2s are well conserved in different types of plants. Research has shown that HD2s involve in plant response to abiotic stresses, such as drought. Currently, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of how HD2s regulate gene expression in response to environmental stresses. In this research, we will use Arabidopsis as model plant and conduct a series of research using molecular biology approaches to study different aspects of HD2 in plants in response to abiotic stresses, specifically, in response to drought. We will study gene expression patterns of different HD2s in plants. We will then reveal the relationship and potential interactions of different HD2 members in response to drought stress. The involvement of HD2s in abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated drought responsive pathway will be investigated. Moreover, we will study how HD2s regulate drought response genes. Our long term research goals are to reveal the insights and mechanisms of HD2s as well as other types HDACs in regulating gene expression in plant response to different environmental stresses. The knowledge and findings generated from the research can be used for development of plants and crops for abiotic stress tolerance. **