“Function(s) of ERF genes 15a, 15b, 4a and 4b in maize”

Prof. Hake is the Director of the USDA Plant Gene Expression Center and is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley.

Genes 15a, 15b, 4a and 4b belonging to a family of maize genes called ERF are found to have effects on the reproduction organs (ears and tassels) of maize and are significant because they might play a crucial role in reproduction. These genes are thought to be regulated by branched silkless proteins binding to their promoters. However, we do not know the resulting phenotype of maize when these genes are expressed. In order to find out everything related to these genes, we are trying to find a quadruple mutant of these genes and closely examine the whole plant when it is fully grown. The methods that will be used are; Polymerase Chain Reaction for genotyping and simply observing the plants for phenotyping. We already know 4a and 4b double homozygote has no phenotype but we expect the quadruple mutant to have a visible phenotype that can be used to relate the genes to a certain function.

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Thant is a Molecular Cell Biology major at UC Berkeley. He attended  City College of San Francisco. He immigrated from Myanmar. He is the first person in his family to go to college with the goal of getting a degree.