When exposed to either abiotic or biotic stressors, plants release chemical compounds that can serve as defense mechanisms. For example, plants of the mustard and cabbage family produce a class of anti-herbivory compounds called glucosinolates. In the model mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana, some glucosinolates are produced from the amino acid tryptophan and are called indole glucosinolates (IGs). Expression of IG synthesis genes is positively regulated by the partially redundant transcription factors, MYB34 and MYB51. Recent studies have shown that these two transcription factors have distinct roles in regulating IG production in different tissues and in mediating responses to different environmental cues.
To understand the distinct roles of these transcription factors at a more detailed temporal and spatial level, reporters for CYP79B2, a transcriptional target of both MYB34 and MYB51, were used. CYP79B2-GFP and CYP79B2-GUS reporter expression was analyzed in wild-type and MYB34 and MYB51 mutant plants in response to increased ambient temperature, increased light intensity, ATP exposure, and chitin exposure. Reverse-phase HPLC quantification of IGs was also performed to determine how these transcription factors are mediating the synthesis of IGs in response stressors. Overall, it was found that MYB51 is responsible for the temperature induction of IG production, while increased light intensity has no impact on IG synthesis. Furthermore, ATP appears to induce IG production independently of both MYB34 and MYB51, while chitin does not increase IG synthesis. Taken together, these studies allow us to better understand how plants respond to and defend themselves from different abiotic and biotic stress / 2025-02-26T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48263 |
| Date | 26 February 2024 |
| Creators | Meagher, Erika J. |
| Contributors | Celenza, John L. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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