Plant research is very active at The University of Arizona. Under Dr. Frans Tax, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, several graduate and undergraduate students, including Cave Creek, Arizona native, Adam Obaidi, work diligently to accomplish their goals.

Employing the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, the Tax lab uses various genetic tools to characterize the function of several receptor genes. These genes encode the sequences for making certain types of receptor-like-kinases. In cell-to-cell and cell to environment signaling, these receptors are vital for the growth, development, and immune response of plants. Therefore, it is equally vital that we come to understand the mechanisms through which these receptors work.

The broader impact of this research would directly affect agriculture. By unveiling the secrets of these receptors, we can further improve on the idea of tailoring plants for their environments and not vice versa. By creating more robust plants that are able to survive in harsh environments, we can increase yields of crops and bring aid to less agriculturally developed countries all over the world.

The idea of the work done in the lab is to create mutants of certain genes so that their functions are deleted. By creating these mutants, we hope to see some kind of a physical consequence, phenotype. From there, certain genetic manipulations are made to see where exactly in the plant and even within the cell these genes are expressed.

If creating single mutants of a gene does not give a physical consequence, we proceed to make double, triple, etc. mutants with genes that we feel are working in conjunction with our gene of interest. After finding a notable phenotype, like dwarfism in the plants or embryo lethality, we proceed to find the pathway in which this receptor acts.

If there is a way to create a loss-of-function mutant, then there is also a way to create a gain-of-function mutant. By over-expressing certain genes, we can make the plants much larger or more resilient to harsh conditions. It is in this way that our work will benefit agriculture. The work that is done in the Tax Lab is very important to the scientific and agricultural communities. Our research provides the scientific community with a better understanding of how plant cells communicate with each other, and it helps agriculture by creating mutants that can better serve our purposes.

Obaidi's work is supported in part by a grant to UA from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (#52005889).

Adam Obaidi, UBRPer in Dr. Frans Tax's lab, Molecular and Cellular Biology