Characterization of the MADS domain transcription factor family in Arabidopsis thaliana

Contains fulltext : 27433.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Gene regulation at the level of transcription is crucial for almost all biological processes in a cell or organism. Transcription factors are sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins that are capable of activating and/or repressing transcription. The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana, for instance, consists out of ~6% transcription factors, which can be divided into families. One such family is the large MADS domain family and its members have been shown to be involved in, e.g. flowering, flower and root development, and fruit development. This thesis dealt with the ambitious aim to identify and characterize the complete Arabidopsis MADS domain family of transcription factors. Different perspectives were taken to obtain a global overview of this important transcription factor family at the gene and protein level and it opens new avenues to a more Systems Biology way of understanding.RU Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 10 mei 2006Promotor : Angenent, G.C.201, X p