Dibin Baby

Iron regulation modules in the context of Fe resource allocation, seed sink strength and evolution in Arabidopsis thaliana

Soil is enriched with various minerals. Iron (Fe) is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. Also, Fe is an essential microelement required by plants. However, high levels of Fe uptake lead to cellular toxicity in plants. Thus, in plants, the processes of Fe uptake, allocation to various organs and tissues and utilization is precisely regulated via Fe-regulated transcription factors. The underlying mechanisms of this complex regulatory network are still elusive. In this project we will study at the mechanistic level how Fe resource allocation is triggered by the Fe regulation cascade and sink strength and the evolution of the Fe regulation modules in seed plants.

Starting date: 15.10.2020 / Doctoral Researcher

Thesis committee members: Prof. Dr. Petra Bauer,  Vera Göhre

Publications: 

Lichtblau DM, Schwarz B, Baby D, Endres C, Sieberg C and Bauer P (2022) The Iron Deficiency-Regulated Small Protein Effector FEP3/IRON MAN1 Modulates Interaction of BRUTUS-LIKE1 With bHLH Subgroup IVc and POPEYE Transcription Factors. Front. Plant Sci.13:930049. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.930049

Kanwar P, Baby D and Bauer P (2021) Interconnection of iron and osmotic stress signaling in plants ‐ Is FIT a regulatory hub to cross‐connect abscisic acid responses? Plant Biology online March 2021 doi:10.1111/plb.13261

Zhong Z, Sretenovic S, Ren Q, Yang L, Bao Y, Qi C, Yuan M, He Y, Liu S, Liu X, Wang J, Huang L, Wang Y, Baby D, Wang D, Zhang T, Qi Y, Zhang Y (2019) Improving plant genome editing with high-fidelity xCas9 and non-canonical PAM-targeting Cas9-NG. Mol Plant. 12(7):1027-1036.  doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2019.03.011