Understanding how temperature affects plant development is of increasing importance, particularly with regard to global climate change. We have established that small increases in ambient temperature dramatically affect root architecture in the model species, Arabidopsis thaliana. We now wish to understand the underlying regulatory mechanisms. The regulation and interaction of different hormone signalling pathways in Arabidopsis roots will be investigated. Project direction will be determined by student interest but may involve careful analysis of root phenotypes, microscopy, gene expression, hormone quantification and mutant characterisation.
Funding Notes:
Applications are invited for fully-funded University of Bristol PhD studentships. These are awarded on a competitive basis. A first class undergraduate degree and MSc. are essential. Publications would be highly desirable.
References:
1. Crawford AJ, McLachlan, D, Hetherington, AM and Franklin, KA (2012) High Temperature Exposure Increases Plant Cooling Capacity, Current Biology R396-R397.
2. Franklin, KA, Lee SH, Patel, DV, Kumar SV, Spartz AK, Gu C, Ye S, Yu P, Breen, GJL, Cohen JD, Wigge PA and Gray WM (2011) PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 regulates auxin biosynthesis at high temperature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 108, 20231-20235.
3. Franklin KA (2010) Plant Chromatin feels the heat. Cell 140, 26-28.4. Koini MA, Alvey L, Allen T, Tilley CA, Harberd NP, Whitelam GC and Franklin KA (2009) High temperature-mediated adaptations in plant architecture require the phytochrome-interacting factor PIF4. Current Biology 19, 408-413.
4. Jones, AR, Kramer,EM, Knox, K, Swarup, R, Bennett, MJ, Lazarus, CM, Leyser, HMO, Grierson CS (2009) Auxin transport through non-hair cells sustains root-hair development. Nature Cell Biology 11:1, 78 – 84.
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 Results