An investigation to identify transcription factors that regulate the radial root growth in Arabidopsis thaliana and Raphanus sativus

The radish (Raphanus sativus, family: Brassicaceae) is one example of a root crop that is widely consumed as a source of energy and nutrition. One of the most basic yet fundamental reasons for this research is to get a better understanding of the role of cambium enriched transcription factors (TFs) in radial growth of roots. By completing this proposed study I hope to discover whether or not these selected TFs have any influence on radish radial growth. Based on the fact that Arabidopsis and radish belong to the same family (Brassicaceae) of plants, we hypothesize that the same set of TFs that influenced radial growth in Arabidopsis will also influence radial growth in radish. I learned PCR and other standard molecular techniques.

My Experience

This experience gave me a lot of insight of how graduate school is going to be. My mentor has really been a great mentor. He has really given me the right amount of independence. He has really been a good guiding hand for learning all the molecular techniques that I have mastered over the course of a ten week period. The most important thing that I have gained from this experience is “confidence”. The experience has been intense. However, I have come to realize that if I can survive this, then I can survive anything.