GABI-ADVANCIS
Gene expression is mainly regulated by the binding of transcription factors to
cis-regulatory
sequence elements that are usually located in the promoter regions upstream of genes.
These binding events thus govern plant development, architecture, the maintenance of
critical cell type- and organ-specific functions, and enable plants to respond to endogenous and
environmental cues by modifying growth, metabolism and developmental processes. All of these
output processes are potential targets for crop improvement and plant biotechnology. Our
current knowledge of
cis-regulatory sequence elements and our ability to identify them
reliably are still insufficient. The major goal of this project is to newly develop and
combine existing and novel complementary
in silico and experimental tools for an enhanced
identification of
cis-regulatory elements in plants.