ETHYLENE RESPOSNE FACTORS are highly conserved genes that have been found to be involved in stress-related hormone signaling in plants. When these genes are over-expressed, they can have negative impacts on plant health, leading to inhibited growth and leaf senescence under stressful conditions. Could knocking down the function of an ERF improve plant response in the face of climate change related stressors such as soil salinity? A CRISPR gene knockdown will be performed on ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR 104 in Arabidopsis suecica. A. suecica is an allopolyploid plant which has shown differential expression of ERF104 in genetically different accessions. A CRISPR gene knockout of ERF104 will be performed on two different accessions of A. suecica, which will then be genotyped to look for signs of genetic mutation. Phenotypic observations of mutation will also be performed as the plants grow and are exposed to stressful conditions. Upon successful completion of the experiment, I expect to see that the ERF104 gene is no longer being overexpressed in A. suecica, which should result in the plant showing fewer signs of stress when grown on salinity plates.
