Breeding of disease and stress resistant cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) varieties

The goals of this research project are to identify target genes regulated by YTH domain-containing splicing factor family and understand alternative splicing mechanisms involved in plant response to environmental stresses. Ultimately, we want to develop novel technology that can be used to generate useful crops especially cucumber tolerant to adverse environmental conditions. Specific objectives are (1) Isolation of YTH family genes involved in stress responses including pathogen, cold, and drought. (2) Search and finding of target genes regulated by YTH proteins. (3) Understanding of environmental stress response mechanisms via alternative splicing mediated by YTH proteins. (4) Cloning of YTH-like genes from cucumber using comparative genomics and development of cucumber plants tolerant to adverse environmental conditions.

This work has been supported by national research foundation of Korea