Phytochrome-mediated shade-avoidance responses affect plant-aphid interactions in Arabidopsis

MORENO JE; BALLARÉ CL

Santiago

Workshop; ICGEB-ICRO; 2005

ICGEB-ICRO

In my PhD project, I am trying to find out the underlying molecular mechanism of higher herbivory levels suffered by shaded plants in natural conditions. These plants show the "shade avoidance" response characterized by long petioles, erected leaves and early flowering. To understand the ecological pattern I am carrying out a reverse genetic approach. I am using an Arabidopsis mutants lacking the phytochrome B, phyb, which shows a constitutive competence phenotype, to asses herbivore growth or fitness. To have a more comprehensive idea of how light modulates plant inducible defense we analyzed a DNA microarray hybridized with mRNA coming from wild types and phyb plants, making focus on salicylic acid and jasmonic acid regulated defense genes. About this topic will surround my short oral communication.