Circadian Rhythm Control of Strigolactone Signaling via Protein-Protein Interactions

• Grant number: 24/20709-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Grantee: Alan César Faustinoni Fernandes
• Supervisor: David C Nelson
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/06721-6 - Interaction between the flowering pathway and strigolactone in the stomatal dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana, BP.IC

Abstract

Plant circadian rhythm is a complex network of gene regulation through transcription-translation feedback over a 24-hour period, which gives rise to an internal timekeeper that improves plant fitness. During plant domestication, several processes were modified due to thenselection of circadian rhythm alleles that allowed the cultivation of more adaptable plants to arange of environments. GIGANTEA (GI) is a plant-specific protein responsible for linking circadianrhythm to many physiological mechanisms, including hormonal function. However, the role of circadianrhythm in the plant hormone strigolactone (SL) is still relatively unknown. In light of this, ourpreliminary results based on mutant phenotyping and bioinformatic analyses, suggest aninteraction between circadian rhythm through GI and SLs via protein-protein interactions (PPIs).Thus, this proposal aims to analyze the molecular interaction between GI and SL pathwaysthrough PPI assays. Furthermore, we will look for possible GI interactions with transcriptionfactors related to other pathways. This proposal shows potential to help to uncover a novelregulation of hormones by the circadian rhythm through GI. Additionally, the results will revealnovel GI interactions, which are crucial for elucidating plant developmental processes, andguiding breeding programs to optimize plant adaptation based on circadian rhythm regulation.