Investigating Ca2+ signaling in plants using genetically encoded Ca2+ sensors

Ca2+ is a very important signaling molecules for animals and plants alike. Ca2+ signaling has been heavily studied in animals but relatively less is understood in plants. Cyclic Nucleotide Gated Ion Channels (CNGCs) are important channels that are thought to be important in regulating Ca2+ homeostasis under different conditions in plants. The goal of this project is to understand CNGC-mediated Ca2+ signaling using Ca2+ reporter systems that can be visualized using confocal microscopes. We expect to see differences in Ca2+ signaling in the CNGC mutant background that carry these Ca2+ reporter systems under various abiotic and biotic stress conditions. This will affirm the specific role of each CNGC in Ca2+ signaling. The results from this project will provide new information about CNGC signaling, a channel that has been otherwise quite challenging to study.

Faculty Supervisor:

Keiko Yoshioka

Student:

Partner:

Saitama University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: