I am Agreanette Samukelisiwe Sibanyoni, a BSc Microbiology graduate currently pursuing a BSc Honours in Bioinformatics at the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Pretoria.

My Honours research focuses on "Uncovering Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Anther Filament Elongation in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)." By applying transcriptomic approaches, I analyze RNA sequences from anther filaments to investigate how the transition from darkness to early morning light influences gene expression patterns associated with filament elongation. This study aims to reveal how sunflowers coordinate floral development with environmental light cues to optimize pollen presentation. Understanding these molecular responses is crucial for advancing our knowledge of how sunflowers adapt their developmental processes to changing environmental conditions.

The project is supervised by Dr. Nicky Creux and is part of the Crop Floral Biology and Environments research group within the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. I am passionate about applying bioinformatics and computational approaches to better understand plant developmental responses to environmental signals.