Final Report Summary - GENDER (Molecular mechanisms monitoring sex determination in Arabidopsis thaliana)
The main purpose of our project was to use a combination of genetic and genomic approaches, more easily implemented in the model plant A. thaliana, to determine the molecular function of family of transcription factors involved in sex determination in melon, the WIP genes. The final goal was to increase our knowledge on about their function in A. thaliana and propose new concepts that will be translated then to cucurbit plants.
To attend this objective we have first started our analysis by performing GUS expression analysis to determine the expression profile of each WIP gene in A. thaliana seedlings. Base on the results obtained we have suggested a redundant function between WIP proteins in control of plant development. In order to confirm this hypothesis we generated a combination of double and triple wip mutants and analyzed plants for phenotype alterations. We generated ‘omics’ data of WT and mutant lines impaired on WIP functions. Integration of genetic and omics data led to a molecular model that explains how the WIP proteins control plant development.
To attend this objective we have first started our analysis by performing GUS expression analysis to determine the expression profile of each WIP gene in A. thaliana seedlings. Base on the results obtained we have suggested a redundant function between WIP proteins in control of plant development. In order to confirm this hypothesis we generated a combination of double and triple wip mutants and analyzed plants for phenotype alterations. We generated ‘omics’ data of WT and mutant lines impaired on WIP functions. Integration of genetic and omics data led to a molecular model that explains how the WIP proteins control plant development.