PIF2024 - Potential pioneer factor activity of the complex BRANCHED1/NF-YB/NF-YC in axillary bud dormancy reprogramming (PID2023-151428NB-I00)

The group of Pilar Cubas and Michael Nicolas at the CNB-CSIC, is looking for a highly motivated student with interest in Plant Developmental Biology and Molecular Genetics. We offer a formation plan in a research project funded with a 4-year PhD contract associated to the MICIU project “Potential pioneer factor activity of the complex BRANCHED1/NF-YB/NF-YC in axillary bud dormancy reprogramming” (PID2023-151428NB-I00). We are studying the molecular basis of a fundamental plant decision: whether to let branches grow out to form leaves, flowers, and fruits, or to keep them small and dormant at the base of leaves as axillary buds. This decision is tightly regulated by internal and external factors, and is crucial not only for shaping plant architecture, but also for plant survival under changing environmental conditions and for crop productivity. The transcription factor BRANCHED1 (BRC1) is the master regulator of this process, and causes dramatic gene expression changes that promote axillary bud cells to become dormant. To better understand how BRC1 accomplishes the genetic reprogramming involved in the transition of cells from active to dormant, we are using multidisciplinary approaches encompassing plant molecular genetics, genome-wide analyses of chromatin marks, single nuclei-RNA-sequencing, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, confocal microscopy, CRISPR/Cas gene editing, systems biology, and generation of transgenic plants.