Regulation of protein polyubiquitination in light signal transduction
Plants adapt growth, development and metabolisms to the ambient light environment throughout their life cycle. Light is perceived by several classes of photoreceptors, including phytochromes (PHYs) and cryptochromes (CRYs). Upon activation by light, these photoreceptors inhibit the activity of the COP1/SPA ubiquitin ligase which – in darkness – targets transcription factors involved in the light response for degradation. The PhD project addresses the molecular mechanisms how light regulates development via COP1/SPA.
The project will be supervised by Ute Höcker at the University of Cologne.