Schmidt, Rebecca, authorNalam, Vamsi, advisorArgueso, Cristiana, committee memberReddy, Anireddy, committee member2023-06-012023-06-012023https://hdl.handle.net/10217/236560Alternative splicing is an important post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism that contributes to a plant's ability to perceive and respond to a variety of biotic and abiotic stressors. Alternative splicing has a documented role in plant immunity, as many R genes, which are important for plant defense against specialized pathogens, undergo alternative splicing in response to pathogen perception. Despite this, the role of alternative splicing in other components of plant defense responses is not well documented. As transcriptome data diversify to include more species and conditions, the extent of alternative splicing in plants has become apparent. PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 (PAD4), plays an integral role in plant defense signaling to biotic stressors, and in regulating responses to abiotic stresses. PAD4 undergoes alternative splicing in Soybean (Glycine max). Additionally, the expression pattern of Glycine max PAD4, GmPAD4, and its splice variant GmPAD4-AS1 are further characterized in early growth stages. We hypothesize PAD4 produces full-length and alternatively spliced transcripts in multiple species, and that PAD4 gene structure may influence the occurrence of alternatively spliced transcripts. Here we characterize alternative splicing of PAD4 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), identifying two splice variants. We also investigate the conservation of PAD4 intron-exon structure conservation across diverse species. PAD4 expression patterns are characterized using available expression data.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.PAD4phytoalexin deficient4tomatophytoalexin deficient 4alternative splicingsoybeanText