Teilprojekt 01

Key factors of stress response in barley

Klaus Humbeck (MLU)

In previous work we could identify in barley several regulatory factors up-regulated in response to abiotic stress conditions, e.g. drought, cold, salt and heavy metal stress. First functional analyses of some homologous genes of this set of putative stress regulators were performed in the model plant Arabidopsis and revealed a function not only in different abiotic, but also in biotic stress response pathways. In the project we want to analyze the role of these central factors involved in both, abiotic and biotic stress response pathways, in barley and we want to test whether loss-of-function affects stress tolerance in barley. Regulation of expression during abiotic and biotic stress treatment will be followed on RNA level using quantitative Real-Time PCR. Biotic stress experiments will be performed in collaboration with the group of H. Deising and St. Wirsel at the IAEW in Halle. In order to pinpoint upstream regulatory pathways we will collaborate with the group of E. Peiter at the IAEW focusing on the connection to ABA- and calcium-pathways. A long-term goal of our research is the integration of central key factors involved in cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stress conditions into breeding strategies for stable crops.

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