Establishing the role of heterotrimeric G-proteins in plant defence (2007-2009)

Plants have evolved a number of mechanisms to defend themselves against pathogens. We have recently established that an important family of signalling proteins (G-proteins) are involved in defence against a number of plant pathogens. Nevertheless, almost nothing is yet known about the biochemical and molecular nature of this involvement. This study aims to establish the role of G-proteins in the plant defence network using a combination of genomics, mutagenesis and transcript profiling (microarrays) that will allow us to establish the biochemical pathways influenced by these proteins and identify components of their signalling pathways.