Wright, Jennifer (2017) Quantitative genetic analysis of auxin-driven growth in Arabidopsis Thaliana. MSc by research thesis, University of York.
Abstract
Growth and development in plants displays genetic complexity differently controlled by discrete environmental stimuli. The Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl is a useful model system for studying growth due to its simplicity. The hypocotyl elongates in response to a wide range of stimuli, including the phytohormone auxin. Auxin is a major regulator of growth and development with a role in every stage of a plant’s life cycle. Previous work has shown that exogenous auxin can increase hypocotyl length in some cases, but decrease it in others. In this dissertation, I wanted to investigate the growth response to auxin in two ways. I added exogenous auxin, and increased auxin levels naturally by growing plants at warm temperatures. I also investigated the effect of the mutation hsp90.2-3 on hypocotyl growth. This mutation increases hypocotyl length and reveals cryptic genetic variation within a plant. I studied the effect of auxin and the mutation on growth using a quantitative genetic approach. I investigated growth using QTL analysis. This technique uses naturally occurring variation in a population to detect regions of the genome which influence a certain trait. It is useful for studying a trait like growth, which is controlled by many genes of small effect. I detected many QTL using this technique, including one which has a role in controlling growth and variation under several tested conditions. I also detected QTL that work through epistatic interactions. Some QTL control a change in hypocotyl length in response to a specific stimulus. Overall, I have studied the genetic basis of growth in several conditions and examined the change in hypocotyl length and variation in hypocotyl length due to changes in temperature and exogenous auxin. I envisage that the genetic architecture I reported will aid future studies into the way warmth and auxin affect growth and variation in plants.
Metadata
Supervisors: | Davis, Seth and Harper, Andrea |
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Keywords: | QTL mapping, Quantitative genetic analysis, Arabidopsis Thaliana, Hypocotyl, Auxin, Phytohormones, Heat shock proteins, Genetics, Biology |
Awarding institution: | University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Biology (York) |
Depositing User: | Miss Jennifer Wright |
Date Deposited: | 11 Jun 2018 09:14 |
Last Modified: | 11 Jun 2018 09:14 |
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Filename: MSc Dissertation Jennifer Wright.pdf
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