PhD Transfer Examination – Cariana Carianopol (Gazzarini lab)

PhD Transfer Examination

Thursday December 10^th, 12:10 pm – 3087 Earth Sciences Centre

Carina Carianopol (Gazzarrini lab)

“Interaction between SnRK1 and ABA signaling pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana“

Abstract

Plants have developed intricate mechanisms to enable survival and propagation. Regardless of the type of stress, the result is energy deprivation that occurs through decreased photosynthesis and respiration rates. Energy sensors, which are conserved in yeast, mammals and plants, are activated in order to achieve energy homeostasis through metabolic compensation. In plants, the SnRK1 (Sucrose non-fermenting Related Kinase 1) members are the orthologs of the yeast Snf1 and mammalian AMPK energy sensors. The catalytic subunit of SnRK1, AKIN10, has been proposed to link stress, sugar and developmental signals in order to regulate plant metabolism, energy balance, growth and therefore survival of the plant under stress. Recent work indicates SnRK1 and ABA (abscisic acid) signaling pathways intersect during stress responses and share common transcriptional targets, however, the mechanism of this interaction is unclear. The aim of this project is to investigate mechanisms of growth and development regulation by AKIN10 and ABA in Arabidopsis thaliana. A high-throughput Y2H screen using AKIN10 against a collection of 258 ABA-regulated genes was performed resulting in 50 putative AKIN10 interactors, 39 of which were reconfirmed by Y2H. The list includes: 5 previously characterized AKIN10 targets; metabolic and regulatory proteins (kinases, phosphatases, etc.) and stress-related proteins; analysis of GO molecular function indicates this list is enriched for transcription factors.