A systems-based approach to unravel the role of the trehalase enzyme in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Trehalose metabolism in plants is becoming a hot topic. Trehalose is synthesised in two steps and the intermediate T6P is now considered as a new plant growth regulator. Plants contain large families of genes with homology to trehalose biosynthesis enzymes of microbes but they hardly accumulate any trehalose. A possible reason for this is the presence of the trehalase enzyme. To investigate this, we have recently generated overexpression and KO lines of the trehalase in Arabidopsis thaliana. To our surprise, lines in which there is a clear overexpression of the trehalase gene show an increased drougth stress tolerance which is opposite of what we expected. In this project we will investigate the underlying mechanism and we will use a systems biology approach. This will include, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics.

Keywords:Stress resistance, Trehalase, TPS1, Arabidopsis thaliana, Trehalose

Disciplines:General biology, Plant biology, Biochemistry and metabolism, Medical biochemistry and metabolism