ASSOCIATED MAJORS:

1. LIFE SCIENCES AND MEDICINE

• Agriculture
• Biology

PROJECT TITLE: 

Regulation of stem cell differentiation in plants

PROJECT SUMMARY. Description of activities and objectives:

Plants have the ability to adapt their developmental programs to cope with environmental changes in order to ensure their survival. To modify these developmental programs, a precise
regulation of gene expression is necessary, which is largely coordinated by alterations in chromatin organization and modification, and in the activity of transcription factors (TF).
Our research line is focused on the characterization of two proteins, MINIYO (IYO) and RIMA, identified in our laboratory, which are basic components of a molecular switch that initiates cell differentiation in Arabidopsis (Sanmartin et al., 2011; Muñoz et al. al., 2017). Interestingly, the regulatory elements that control their gene expression have not been identified. Establishing the
regulatory factors that delimit IYO and RIMA expression is one of the key questions to unravel the mechanisms triggering stem cell differentiation in plants.
The objective of the proposed project is the characterization of several conserved motifs in the IYO promoter and the determination of their role in the regulation of IYO expression. For that, it is planned to perform luciferase transactivation assays to demonstrate whether TFs associated with specific motifs are capable of activating the IYO promoter. These studies will be complemented with the generation and characterization of truncated versions of the promoter and/or mutagenized in the predicted FT binding boxes to confirm their binding. In parallel, inducible TF lines and loss of function mutants will be characterized to determine its role in IYO expression. This project aimed to allow the student to acquire a solid background in molecular and cellular biology, to get acquainted to different experimental approaches, and to develop a critical scientific thinking that will be of great help in his/her future career.

http://www.ibmcp.csic.es/es