Project

Nutrient Signaling and Plant Growth

Code
bof/baf/4y/2024/01/577
Duration
01 January 2024 → 31 December 2025
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Regulation of metabolism
    • Plant cell and molecular biology
    • Interactomics
Keywords
Energy and nutrient signaling Interactomics Plant growth
 
Project description

Plant growth is the result of a balanced regulation between cell proliferation and expansion, and relies on nutrient availability, phytohormones, and beneficial environmental conditions. The Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and the SnRK1 kinases are antagonists in directing growth in eukaryotes through the sensing of energy status and nutrients. However, compared to other eukaryotic model species, the current knowledge of nutrient signaling involving TOR and SnRK1 is still scarce for plants. Therefore we combine proteomics and interactomics approaches to map protein interaction networks and its dynamics around TOR and SnRK1 in relation to carbon and nitrogen availablity. Based on those protein network models we study the molecular function of newly discovered nodes in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, and pull our discoveries towards interesting phenotypes in crop species with the aim to generate new approaches that contribute to a more sustainable agriculture.