Plants respond to various stresses through complex signaling pathways that regulate different adaptation mechanisms. Electrical signals, along with calcium and ROS waves, are associated with rapid responses to abiotic stressors such as mechanical injury, cold, salinity, osmotic pressure, and oxidative stress. It remains unanswered how the integration of different signals is regulated at the cellular level and how distinct ion transport systems contribute to electrical signaling during stress. In plant cells, the vacuole membrane (tonoplast) possesses an additional set of ion transport systems that, along with excitation, have evolved to provide an extra way for regulating stress responses. However, the role of tonoplast action potentials and the participation of ion transport systems in the reactions to various stressors remains experimentally limited. Electrophysiological investigations of characeaen cells could fill the gap in understanding the function of tonoplast in plant stress responses.
PhD project aims to investigate how distinct plasmalemma and tonoplast electrical signals reflect Nitellopsis obtusa cell responses to abiotic stress.
Objectives:
- To implement methods for recording the action potentials of tonoplast separated from the plasmalemma.
- To elucidate the vacuole's function in response to salinity, osmotic, and oxidative stress.
- To investigate the correlation between tonoplast excitability and Ca2+ signaling during stress.
Mokslinis vadovas / Supervisor: Doc. Dr. Vilma Kisnierienė, VU GMC BMI Neurobiologijos ir biofizikos k-dra
Kontaktai / Contacts:
tel. / phone: +37068370724
Programme: Biophysics N 011