Defining the symbiotic calcium channel of legumes

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Nuclear associated oscillations in calcium sit at the core of the symbiosis signalling pathway, allowing the transduction of information from perception of microbial signalling molecules at the cell surface to gene expression changes in the nucleus. While genetic dissection has revealed many of the components involved in symbiosis signalling in legumes, the proteins directly responsible for the regulation of calcium levels have not been discovered. Using nuclear-targeting as a criteria we have identified a cyclic nucleotide gated (CNG) channel that is a strong candidate for the symbiotic calcium channel. In this proposal we will use a combination of molecular genetics and electrophysiological approaches to characterize the putative CNG complex responsible for symbiotic calcium signalling. The main objectives of this work are:
1. To ascertain the roles of the different nuclear-localised CNGs in nodulation and mycorrhization. 2. To define the CNG complex that resides on the nuclear envelope. 3. To define the selectivity and regulatory properties of the channel complex.

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