Speaker: Dylan Kosma, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology assistant professor

Title: Identification of transcriptional regulators of wound suberin deposition

Abstract: Suberin is a heteropolymer of aliphatics and phenylpropanoids whose presence is nearly universal in the plant kingdom. It is found in specific cell types including endodermis, periderm, and seed coats. It is a major component of the “skin” or periderm of potato tubers. It is also produced in response to environmental stresses like wounding. In the United States, up to 33 percent of the potato crop is lost during storage equating to more than $1 billion in crop losses each year. A large proportion of those losses can be attributed to improper wound suberin formation. Until now, little has been known about the transcriptional regulation of suberin deposition. We recently discovered and described the first transcription factor known to regulate suberin deposition, AtMYB41. Aspects of the transcriptional regulation of wound suberin deposition including the discovery of transcription factors that regulate wound suberin deposition in potato and Arabidopsis will be discussed. 

Host: Marna Yandeau-Nelson, GDCB assistant professor

Please join us for refreshments before the seminar outside Room 1414 of the Molecular Biology Building.