Graduate Coordinator West Virginia State University Cross Lanes, West Virginia
Body of Abstract: Arsenic is a metalloid that is naturally found, and it is not essential for animals and plants. Although it makes up a miniscule part of the 0.15% trace elements that make up the human body, it is very detrimental to human health when found in higher concentrations. One of the main causes of arsenic contamination in the environment is anthropogenic activity (Bali & Sidhu, 2021). In its inorganic forms, arsenic is highly toxic. Arsenite and arsenate are oxidation states of arsenic that are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments (Tripathi, et al., 2007). Arsenate (AsV) is a chemical analog to inorganic phosphate and arsenite (AsIII) readily interacts with thiol groups. Once within plant cells, AsV and AsIII have toxic effects by causing disturbances in the supply of phosphate and harming the functionality of proteins, respectively (Souri, Karimi, & Sandalio, 2017). The focus of this project was placed on characterizing the overexpression of the previously identified gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, ASRF (Arsenic Stress-Related F-Box) (Pena-Garcia, et al., 2021). Because ASRF knockout mutants displayed an increased sensitivity to arsenate exposure, overexpression of ASRF in a wild-type background should enhance tolerance to arsenate stress. This study included multiple molecular, physiological, and genetic analyses demonstrating the effects of increased ARSF expression levels toward obtaining enhanced mitigation of arsenic-induced stress in the transgenic line.