Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Spring 2024

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

COLSA

Department

Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences

Program or Major

Genetics

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Estelle Hrabak

Abstract

Arabidopsis thaliana contains 24 Protein Acyl Transferases (PATs). These enzymes are responsible for catalyzing the addition of a palmitate to a target substrate (palmitoylation). However, beyond its broad enzymatic function, it is unknown how PATs interact on a cellular level. This research focuses on identifying the function of PAT2. CRISPR-Cas9 was used to create deletion mutations that would result in a non-functional PAT. Two plants homozygous for a pat2 deletion were identified: pat2-5 and pat2-6. Preliminary results suggest that pollen grains in both pat2 mutants are larger in both length and width. Additionally, it appears that mutant pollen tends to germinate more frequently than wildtype pat2 under the conditions used. It is currently unknown how a pat2 mutation causes these phenotypes.

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