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Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Background Intellectual disability is a disorder in brain development and affects up to 2% of people. The reasons for this problem occurring are a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders. One of these disorders, Tonne-Kalscheuer Syndrome (TOKAS) is caused by a mutation of a gene called RNF12/RLIM, which encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase that marks proteins to be destroyed by the proteosome. Their function is crucial, as if they malfunction the result can be disease. In order to understand TOKAS, the signals that control RNF12, and the cellular processes RNF12 controls need to be identified. Approach I will utilise human pluripotent stem cell models to study the localisation and functions of RNF12 during human neural development. I will use genome-editing to tag RNF12 for visualisation in cells, and to specifically target RNF12 for destruction to identify its molecular targets, exploring the impact of RNF12 localisation and function on gene expression and development of the brain, which is disrupted in TOKAS patients. Impact This project will provide new insight into regulation and functions of SRPK-RNF12 and its pathway utilising a human stem cell model as well as biochemistry approaches. This will help us to understand the processes that are disrupted in Tonne-Kalscheuer Syndrome.

Research into the responses of crops to different light inputs offers unique opportunities to study disease defence responses and important physiological processes. In potatoes, we have evidence that indicates that pathogens such as late blight use specific effectors to perturb host pathways associated with light reception to facilitate infection. Further, crop treatment with blue, red, and far-red light significantly alters the speed of pathogen infection, highlighting the importance of light quality as an environmental stimulus that contributes to defence. For example, red light treatment has been shown to significantly reduce Potato Late Blight disease severity and speed up host SA-based resistance responses (Naqvi et al., 2022). Further, light is an important signal for flower and/or tuber development in potatoes. Growing long-day adapted potatoes under intense light for 22 hours significantly expedites the time from emergence to flower development which is used in 'speed-breeding' or winter crossing facilities. Plants grown under such conditions further reveal significant differences in their height, foliage weight, tuber numbers and mean weight. However, not all potatoes respond equally to these conditions. Taking advantage of the diversity of potatoes within the Commonwealth Potato Collection, the CPC, we can sample plants that originate from distinct environments and assess their responses to light. The diversity includes species that grow at sea level, high altitudes, deserts and cloud forests and thus have adapted to very different environments including light quality and availability. Importantly, the development of flexible LED technologies allows us to design different light environments to assess the adaptability potential of diverse Solanum species. This project aims to help understanding how light signals combine to regulate the growth and life cycle of Solanum species and the impact on immune induction. In addition to understanding the mechanistic and molecular components of potato responses to distinct light inputs, this project has the potential to deliver improved methodologies that reduce crop production timing, deliver sturdy material for transplantation and enhance tolerance to tolerant to biotic stressors, contributing to a more sustainable potato production.