Confocal imaging of Arabidopsis defense related proteins involved in PI4P homeostasis

Plants face various challenges when they grow. They are attacked by numerous diseases and this can negatively affect their growth and productivity. Plants have complex means of defending against diseases. In order to create disease resistant crops it is important to first understand how plants are able to defend against these diseases and understand how these complex plant defense reactions work. In our research we use a plant belonging to the mustard family, called Arabidopsis. This plant is easy to grow and perform research in indoor lab settings. Lipid molecules located in the membranes of plant cells have been shown to be involved in plant immunity. Alterations in the levels of these lipid molecules have been shown to impact plant immunity. One such immunity related lipid molecule is PI4P. PI4P lipid homeostasis is important for a balanced plant immunity. Numerous proteins are involved in PI4P synthesis (such as the PI4KBetas) and degradation (such as the SAC domain containing proteins). In my PhD I am investigating the role of Arabidopsis SACs in plant immune regulation. The pi4kbeta mutant that does not produce functional PI4KBeta proteins display enhanced immunity.

Faculty Supervisor:

Xin Li

Student:

Partner:

The University of Göttingen

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Biotechnology; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: