Dr Pallavi Singh
Dr Pallavi Singh is a Group Leader at University of Essex, UK. Her research focusses on understanding and enhancing photosynthesis. To enhance photosynthetic crop productivity, the lab focusses on complementary requirement to match plant water supply with carbon gain for maximised water use. The goal is to develop more water-efficient crops and promote climate-smart agriculture. Her research employs a range of functional genomic and synthetic-biology techniques, including single-cell approaches and monocot grafting to understand the individual roles of roots and shoots in whole water use strategies of plants.
Title: Here Comes The Sun: Using de-etiolation to understand the regulation of C4 photosynthesis
Webinar date: Tuesday 7th November 14.00 CET
Abstract: C4 photosynthesis has evolved by repurposing enzymes found in C3 plants. Compared with the ancestral C3 state, accumulation of C4 cycle proteins is enhanced. We used de-etiolation of C4 Gynandropsis gynandra and C3 Arabidopsis thaliana to understand this process. C4 gene expression and chloroplast biogenesis in G. gynandra were tightly coordinated. Although C3 and C4 photosynthesis genes showed similar induction patterns, in G. gynandra C4 genes were more strongly induced than orthologs from A. thaliana. In vivo binding of TGA and homeodomain as well as light responsive elements such as G- and I-box motifs were associated with the rapid increase in transcripts of C4 genes. Deletion analysis confirmed that regions containing G- and I-boxes were necessary for high expression. During the presentation, I will discuss the data that supports a model wherein the accumulation of transcripts derived from C4 photosynthesis genes in C4 leaves is enhanced due to modifications in cis, enabling their integration into ancestral transcriptional networks.