Research Projects

Flowering plants are essential for food crops due to their sophisticated reproductive systems. However, there is limited research on the molecular underpinnings of pollen-stigma interactions and stigma receptivity function, which are crucial for effective fertilisation and crop productivity. In Brassica plants, the self-incompatibility (SI) process occurs when matching 'S' alleles are expressed on the pollen grain and stigma surface. A Plant U-box (PUB) Arm-Repeat-Containing protein ARC1, an E3 Ubiquitin Ligase, is phosphorylated and activated, leading to the degradation of compatibility factors required for pollen tube growth. The Arabidopsis genome encodes 61 Plant U-box proteins (PUBs), with AtPUB17 being one of the PUBs showing close homology to BnARC1. PUBs regulate various biological processes, including development, stress response, immune responses, and hormone signaling. This project aims to understand the role of PUBs during compatible and self-incompatible pollinations in Arabidopsis. The project will identify all stigma and pollen expressed PUB genes and explore their functional role in pollination using a reverse genetics and computational approach. The study will also test the role of AtPUB17 in self-incompatible pollination, and structural prediction of stigma expressed PUBs will be carried out. This understanding will help develop strategies to enhance crop yields and contribute to global food production.