Close to the Coark Oak DB Portal launching by BioData.pt, one of the researchers from Plants Community - Pedro Barros from ITQB - will present a seminar at IGC: "Fear the unknown functions and mild phenotypes: a cork oak serine-rich protein regulates vegetative development in Arabidopsis"

Abstract :

Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests are unique and emblematic resources for Portugal, with high economical, ecological and social significance.

Cork oak is adapted to the Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers, but so far little is known regarding genetic basis of this resilience. Aiming to identify new players in cork oak abiotic stress response, a group of candidate genes were selected and its expression under drought and heat stress analyzed by qPCR. A gene of unknown function highly upregulated by both stresses was selected for functional analysis. This gene encodes a small protein (16.33 KDa) with close similarity to two uncharacterized genes from A. thaliana, being tentatively named QsSeRP (Serine-Rich Protein) given the presence of Serine repeats in two conserved domains. Overexpression of QsSeRP in A.  thaliana increased lateral root density and delayed flowering, but had a mild effect on stress tolerance. This presentation will cover the first attempts to uncover the role of QsSeRP in Cork Oak.