My PhD work is a part of the ongoing NFR Wall Integrity project. The research work in the Wall Integrity project is focused on understanding how plant cell wall damage response is controlled by specific molecular processes, known as the CWI maintenance mechanisms (CWI). Cell wall damage can be caused by different stress conditions, both of biotic (i.e., pathogens and pests) and abiotic (e.g., drought, flooding, heat) origin. The proposed PhD project will focus on plant defense response to cell wall damage, aiming to find a coordination between the pattern triggered immunity (PTI), hyper-osmotic stress and the adaptive alteration of cell wall and cellular metabolism. In general, the work will characterize of the mode of action of the plant CWI maintenance mechanism by evaluating a group of relevant gene candidates in Arabidopsis thaliana.
The main goal of the current PhD project is to perform phenotypic analysis and functional characterization of selected gene candidates, participating in pattern triggered immunity – cell wall integrity signal integration (PTI-CWI) and sensitive to osmotic change (Qu et al., 2017). The aims of the project are:
· Identification of the molecular components coordinating CWI maintenance with PTI;
· Evaluation of the relevance of the candidates for plant stress responses;
· Functional characterization of the relevant candidates.
