Zoe McFarlane
-
PhD Student (School of Molecular Biosciences)
email: 2469227m@research.gla.ac.uk
pronouns: she/her/hers
Research title: Exploiting recent advances in plant biology to develop drought-resistant crops
Research Summary
Drought poses a significant threat to both global food security and economic stability, with climate change intensifying these challenges. Drought stress in plants is driven by insufficient rainfall, with increased evaporation from high temperature and intense sunlight exacerbating these drought conditions. This thereby highlights the urgent need to develop crops with enhanced drought tolerance.
My research focuses on REVEILLE2 (RVE2), a MYB-like transcription factor known to produce a functional protein in response to chilling via rapid alternative splicing. Additionally, RVE2 is implicated in the regulation of dehydration-responsive element-binding proteins (DREBs), which are vital for plant survival during drought stress. Discovering whether RVE2 demonstrates a similar capability to produce a functional protein in response to drought, and thereby deepening our understanding of RVE2's role in the drought response, will inform strategies to enhance drought tolerance in plants via the modification of RVE2's function.
