Unravelling transcriptional regulatory interaction complexes

Physical associations between different proteins, so-called protein-protein interactions, are an essential aspect of all biological processes. There is an increasing awareness that we have to think in terms of the interactome as opposed to the classical one-protein-at-a-time approach.

 

In this project, we will initiate an endeavor aimed at studying protein-protein interactions in a pathway-specific context using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and its primary defence compounds, glucosinolates, as model system.

 

Recently, we have genetic evidence that additional partners are involved in the three inter-dependent MYB transcription factors regulation of aliphatic glucosinolate production, although co-expression databases do not reveal any candidate genes.

 

We will employ targeted and untargeted state-of-the-art protein-protein interaction methodologies to identify novel interacting partners and employ advanced bioimaging technology for in vivo validation. We expect to gain insights into the mechanism for the dynamics of coordinated gene expression by assembly of multi-protein complexes.