Ruoqi Dou PhD, Monaghan Lab Investigating the role of subgroup IV calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) across the plant lineage Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are a unique family of integrated Ca2+-sense/response proteins with diverse functions in plants. In model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, there are 34 CDPK genes which can be clustered into four subgroups (I, II, III & IV). There are only 3 members in subgroup IV, with CPK28 being the most highly expressed among them. CPK28 is a major regulator of immune homeostasis and growth in multiple angiosperm plants including tomato, rice, cotton, and Arabidopsis. This project aims to investigate the conserved and/or diverged functions of subgroup IV CDPKs from extant lineages that represent crucial points over the evolutionary history of plants. Our results suggest that the function of subgroup IV CDPKs are well conserved across over 450 M years of evolution. By experimentally assessing whether functions of the subgroup IV CDPKs are conserved in plants with varying life history traits, I will be able to determine if these proteins play core roles in plants immune system, which holds promise for biotechnological applications by generating CDPK alleles that enhance plant microbial pathogens resistance without consequences to yield.
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