H2020Индивидуална стипендия2016–2018

UNRAVEL · Understanding the Role of Antisense lncRNA in Vernalization, Memory and Life History

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2016-04-01 → 2018-03-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 195 455 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Механизмът, чрез който растенията като Arabidopsis thaliana разпознават студа през зимата, за да цъфнат навреме, се анализира чрез специфична молекула RNA. Разбирането на този процес помага при адаптирането на растенията към промените в климата.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Understanding the Role of Antisense lncRNA in Vernalization, Memory and Life History

Optimal timing of flowering is of central importance to plant fitness, in both ecological and agricultural contexts. Plants integrate a variety of cues to determine the right time to flower; for many species, this includes an obligate requirement for the long period of cold experienced over winter (vernalization). In the face of an increasingly warm and variable climate, clarifying the mechanism of cold signal integration in determining flowering is of high importance. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the integration of cold as a flowering signal is controlled by the flowering repressor gene FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). During winter, prolonged cold quantitatively down-regulates FLC expression across the whole plant, acting via an “ON/OFF” epigenetic switch at the level of the single cell. A long non-coding RNA, COOLAIR, is transcribed antisense to FLC and plays a key role in this switching mechanism. Plants in which COOLAIR transcription has been blocked show slower silencing of FLC in the cold and altered epigenetic switching dynamics. Like many non-coding RNAs in other systems, COOLAIR RNA can form folded secondary structures in in vitro systems that seem to be conserved across related species. This folding may be functionally important to the silencing of FLC in winter, perhaps by recruiting proteins known to be involved in the epigenetic switch. Here, plants with slightly altered COOLAIR sequences were produced with the intention of disrupting their folded structures. Some of the alterations generated plants with late flowering and atypical patterns of FLC silencing in cold, suggesting a functional role for the folded structure. In parallel, ongoing work in the Dean lab and collaborators, methods were developed for determining the folded structures of COOLAIR in planta, and for identifying proteins that associate with the RNA during vernalization.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the integration of complex developmental and environmental cues to determine flowering time occurs via tight regulation of FLC. During winter, prolonged cold quantitatively down-regulates FLC expression at the whole-plant level, acting via a cell-autonomous epigenetic switch. A long non-coding RNA, COOLAIR, is transcribed antisense to FLC and plays a key role in this switch. COOLAIR knockout lines show slower silencing of FLC in the cold and altered chromatin modification dynamics. However, the mechanism by which this is achieved remains unclear. My objective is to determine the relationships between COOLAIR transcription, secondary structure and function in the epigenetic silencing of FLC. I will determine in vitro and in vivo secondary structures for COOLAIR in two natural A. thaliana alleles with functional differences in FLC silencing and flowering time. Using both natural alleles and site-directed mutagenesis to disrupt COOLAIR secondary structure, I will assess resulting FLC silencing and flowering phenotypes to investigate the structure-function relationship. Finally, I will develop a method for identifying specific protein-binding partners and sites in COOLAIR. This research will significantly enhance our knowledge of the mechanism underlying cold-mediated silencing in FLC specifically, and of the integration of long-term environmental signals in plants in general. More broadly, it contributes to our emerging understanding of the role of lncRNAs in an epigenetic silencing mechanism that is conserved across the higher eukaryotes. This proposal is directly relevant to the Horizon 2020 Work Programme goals: developing my creative potential and diversifying competences through international mobility and advanced training in technical and transferable skills; enhancing contact networks for both myself and my host organization through academic, commercial and public engagement; and catalysing significant career development.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

JOHN INNES CENTRE · NorwichКоординаторОбединеното кралство