RSL4 · RSL4 is a master regulator of cell growth and size

Growth and size of cells is tightly regulated in all organisms. Recent work in the host lab identified a transcription factor called RSL4 that is a master regulator of cell growth. RSL4 controls cell size in root hairs, a model cell type for the study of eukaryotic cell growth. The current hypothesis is that RSL4 is present in growing cells and its degradation signals the cessation of growth. The overarching aim of this proposal is to understand how RSL4 controls cell size during development. The first objective would be to identify and study the genes that effect RSL4-regulated growth while the second is to characterize the temporal regulation of RSL4 protein stability during the phase of active growth and its degradation as growth ceases. We anticipate that these studies on RSL4 will unravel general mechanisms of eukaryotic cell growth regulation.