Aylin Kerim (Universität Bonn)
Aylin Kerim's Master thesis was awarded with the Prize for the Best Plant Science Master Thesis, which was carried out at Bonn University in the year 2022
Title: "Physiological and Molecular Characterization of Glyoxalase I in the Glyoxalase System among Arabidopsis thaliana Ecotypes"
For the first time this work showes that ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana have specific molecular adaptations of the glyoxalase system, such as lower toxicity to the toxic reactive carbonyl species 2-keto-D-glucose due to high expression of the gene encoding the scavenging enzyme glyoxalase I;2.
Reactive carbonyl species (RCS) are toxic compounds produced mostly during sugar metabolism and are detoxified mainly by the glyoxalase system. In my master's thesis, I investigated the growth characteristics of 20 ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to the RCS methylglyoxal and 2-keto-D-glucose (KDG). In these plants, I also performed transcriptional analysis of all homologs of glyoxalase I by quantitative RT-PCR. Two ecotypes that occur in the same habitat exhibited particularly strong root growth when plants are grown in the presence of KDG, while root growth of other ecotypes was either unaffected or reduced by KDG compared to the Columbia ecotype. I found that the gene encoding the isoform of glyoxalase I;2 (GLXI;2) is highly expressed in one of these ecotypes, suggesting that higher expression of GLXI;2 is involved in the increased KDG detoxification capacity of these ecotypes during seedling establishment. These data pave the way for further research to analyze the molecular adaptations of the RCS-scavenging glyoxalase system in different ecotypes.
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Aylin Kerim conducted this work in the department of Molecular Plant Physiology, IZMB in the working group of Prof. Dr. Veronica G. Maurino.