Regulatory functions of LLM-domain B-GATA transcription factors in essential plant growth processes.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Claus Schwechheimer
• Subject Area: Plant Cell and Developmental Biology ; Plant Physiology
• Term: from 2011 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 190473740

GATAs are evolutionarily conserved transcription factors in eukaryotes. The GATA family is substantially larger in plants than in animals and fungi, but the knowledge about plant GATAs is still rather limited. We have shown that LLM-domain B-GATAs redundantly regulate chlorophyll biosynthesis and stomata formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Thus, these GATAs control directly or indirectly photosynthetic efficiency, a fundamental process in plants and for life on earth. In dark-grown wild type seedlings, the effects of the GATAs on chlorophyll biosynthesis and stomata formation are suppressed but, also in the dark, they can be activated in mutants of the light-labile PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORs. Here, we propose to identify LLM-domain B-GATA target genes during light-induced chlorophyll biosynthesis and stomata formation, to determine the binding specificity of these B-GATAs and to characterize the regulation of selected target genes at the functional and genetic level. We further propose to identify the factor(s) that suppress the effects of the GATAs in the dark using biased and unbiased biochemical and genetic approaches. Taken together, this research will lead to an improved understanding of LLM-domain B-GATA function and contribute to the understanding of the regulation of essential processes in plant growth.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants