This is a place for me to deposit data and updates related to my 2021 NSF PRFB fellowship "The Role of Transposable Elements and DNA Methylation on Immunity Gene Regulation and Diversification in Maize and the Model Setaria viridis" -- The project description can be found at the link: https://github.com/acread/Fellowship_Apps/blob/main/NSF_PRFB_POSTDOC_2020_FUNDED/READ_PROJECT_DESCRIPTION_FINAL.pdf
Plants lack an adaptive immune system and, instead, encode a diverse suite of rapidly evolving immunity genes. It is becoming increasingly clear that transposable elements (TEs) and DNA methylation influence the evolution and expression of these immunity genes. Research on the model dicot Arabidopsis thaliana has been foundational in our understanding of TEs, DNA methylation, and immunity gene biology. However, many of our most important crop plants are monocot grasses, a group that diverged from dicots over 125 million years ago. This project will combine a descriptive study of TE, DNA methylation, and immunity gene associations in a diverse maize population with mechanistic testing of these associations using CRISPR/Cas gene knockouts and transgenic stress-reporter lines of the model monocot Setaria viridis. These data and tools will enable a better understanding of monocot responses to biotic stress and inform the development and deployment of disease resistant cultivars.
Do our research interests overlap? Do you have a dataset that you would like to have looked at? Have you generated resources that would be helpful for me? I'd love to connect and discuss working together to help solve some of the mysteries of plant immunity!