Adusei-Fosu, Mavis

Project Title

The role of Arabidopsis MAP kinase MPK1, MPK2 signalling in biotic and abiotic stress

Abstract

The conserved eukaryotic MAP kinase signal transduction pathways have essential roles in plants to relay information from the environment to the nucleus of the cell and to ensure appropriate remedial responses to biotic (bacteria, fungi) and abiotic (heat, salt) stresses.

This project will focus on the analysis of MAP kinase pathway T-DNA insertion mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana (in particular, MPK1, MPK2, and also double mutants of these lines), with respect to basal resistance to microbial pathogens (e.g. Pseudomonas syringae), and to drought and salt stress. Physiological and biochemical responses (changes in gene expression using q-PCR) will be determined. The plant hormones ethylene, salicylic acid, abscisic acid and jasmonic acid play key roles in stress responses and endogenous levels of these compounds in response to stress will be determined by GC or HPLC. The molecular interactions of MAP kinase signalling pathway proteins with putative osmosensing receptors will be explored using genetic and molecular biological techniques.

Supervisors

Dr Peter Morris

Contact

Email: ma238@hw.ac.uk