Project information
Novel Cytokinin-Like Compounds: Signaling and Mechanism of Action in Arabidopsis and Brassicaceae Oilseeds

Cytokinins are phytohormones essential for plant’s growth and development that also regulate stress tolerance and yield, which is of practical importance in the case of oilseed crops. Cytokinin signaling pathway has been fairly studied for model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. However, there is insufficient data for Brassica sp. and a complete lack thereof for Crambe sp., an important source of food and technical oil, respectively. Based on the known structure of cytokinin-binding domain in Arabidopsis cytokinin sensor, new candidates of cytokinin-like compounds have been identified in the host laboratory. The main goals of this proposal are i) to describe cytokinin signaling components in Crambe and ii) to characterize effects and mechanism of action of new cytokinin-like compounds in both Arabidopsis and in the oilseeds. The results will shed light on cytokinin signaling in oilseed plants and allow to obtain new phytohormones with potential capability to modulate the growth and adaptive responses of crops in the desirable way.