Samson Simon studied biology at the University of Cologne were he obtained his diploma in 2009. Since April 2010 he' been a member of the IGS DHD program working in the group of Prof. Coupland at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research.

Project description

I am interested in the transcriptional regulation of the flowering-time gene CONSTANS (CO) in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. This gene plays an important role in the photoperiodic flowering time pathway as it activates expression of “Florigen” FLOWERING LOCUS T under long day conditions. The aim of the project is to characterize CO promoter and identify regulatory regions in the promoter by phylogenetic footprinting and promoter reporter assays. The long term goal is to identify new transcription factors that regulate expression of CO.