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Date Permissions Signed

2-28-2022

Date of Award

Winter 2022

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department or Program Affiliation

Biology

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Pillitteri, Lynn

Second Advisor

Schulze, Sandra R.

Third Advisor

Singh-Cundy, Anu

Abstract

bHLH093 and bHLH061 are members of sub-group IIIb of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factors. Although bHLH proteins are the second largest transcription factor family in Arabidopsis, only a small proportion of them have been functionally characterized. Here, we investigated the phenotypic impact of bHLH061 and bHLH093 ectopic overexpression and loss-of-function to confirm previously published results and provide new insight into their role in development. bHLH093 and bHLH061 are homologs of two stomatal development genes, SCREAM1/ICE1 and SCREAM2 and have been shown to dimerize with two master regulators of stomata development, FAMA and MUTE. While no evidence was found in this study to implicate the involvement of bHLH061 and bHLH03 stomatal development, we determined that overexpression of these bHLH genes has a significant impact on flowering time, apical dominance, and root growth under long-day conditions. Taken together, our data generally confirmed the published analysis of bHLH093 and bHLH061 function in gibberellin- mediated promotion of flowering and reproductive transition, but also provided a potentially new avenue of future investigation looking at the impact of these genes on root development.

Type

Text

Keywords

arabidopsis, bHLH, protein

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1301430176

Subjects – Names (LCNAF)

Arabidopsis thaliana; Plant proteins--Research; Plant morphogenesis; Plants--Environmental aspects

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters thesis

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

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