Interaction between the BZR1 transcription factor of the brassinosteroid pathway and the promoters of ACS genes of sugarcane

• Grant number: 19/00281-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2019
• End date: April 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Menossi Teixeira
• Grantee: Nicholas Camargo Zani
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a monocot plant that has the unique ability to store high concentrations of sugar in the culm as result of the physiological process of ripening. Ethylene is a gaseous plant hormone derived from the amino acid methionine, correlated to growth and sucrose accumulation in sugarcane. Its biosynthesis occurs through a relatively simple metabolic pathway, which is regulated in a rate-limiting step by the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylase synthase (ACS). Brassinosteroid (BR) is a class of plant hormones that has a wide range of effects on growth and plant development and is directly connected to ethylene biosynthesis through the regulation of ACS. The focus of the current project is to evaluate the transcriptional regulation of the distinct types of ACS in sugarcane. The specific aim is to verify the occurrence of interaction between BZR1 and the promoters of the ACS genes encoding the different types of ACS. The elucidation of ACS regulation in response to BR will provide significant knowledge of ethylene biosynthesis regulation in sugarcane.