Engineering Nuclear Transport Receptor for Plant Resistance
Yangnan Gu, Professor
Plant and Microbial Biology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Plant's responses to external stimuli are highly dependent on the shuttling of intracellular signals to the nucleus, where the genome is reprogrammed to drive transcriptome changes to combat stress. A fundamentally important aspect of this process is the nuclear transport of stress-related signaling cargos mediated by nuclear transport receptors (NTRs). The selective and directional transport of signaling cargo by functionally specialized NTRs in plants (e.g., 27 in rice) plays a pivotal role in determining specific outcomes of stress responses to heat, drought, oxidative stress, UV irradiation, and various pathogens. We propose to engineer broad-spectrum plant resistance against emerging environmental challenges, such as the expanding range of pathogen-hosts due to climate changes, by systematically editing plant NTR genes using CRISPR technology. This project involves genome editing on Arabidopsis NTR genes, including their gene body and cis-regulatory elements, to generate thousands of mutation combinations among different NTRs to create novel resistance features. The genome editing involves rational design and synthesis of customized CRISPR guide RNA (gRNA) libraries with multiplexing capacity, which will be transformed into plants for large-scale resistance screens. After obtaining desired lines, transgenes can be eliminated in the following generations.
Role: This project provides an excellent opportunity for a student to become proficient with a variety of techniques fundamental to plant genetics and molecular and cellular biological research. The student will work with other scientists to study the plant immune system regulated by nuclear transport receptors (NTRs). The student will interact with the lab’s principal investigator, Yangnan Gu and work with another researcher to get deeply involved in generation of transgenic plants mutated in different NTRs to test their roles in pathogen defense. The student will learn recombinant DNA techniques such as cloning, E. coli transformation, and plant DNA/RNA extraction and use fluorescent microscope to observe in vivo dynamics of proteins in a living cell. The student will also have the opportunity to participate in lab meeting discussions and departmental seminars.
Qualifications: The student should have a strong desire to learn basic research and is willing to invest a significant amount of time in the lab to pursue the research project. A solid understanding of molecular biology concepts and some prior experience with molecular biology techniques are preferred. The student must be responsible, conscientious, attentive to detail and able to relate the details of her/his work to the larger objectives of the project.
Hours: 12 or more hours
Related website: https://plantandmicrobiology.berkeley.edu/users/yangnan-gu
Biological & Health Sciences