H2020Индивидуална стипендия2021–2023

EvoPWO · Evolution of plant PWO proteins and their function: a synthetic biology approach

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

Период: 2021-04-01 → 2023-03-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 156 981 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Протеините PWO регулират работата на комплекси, които контролират растежа на растенията, като например развитието на корените и стъблата. Разбирането на тяхната еволюция помага да се разбере защо тези протеини са се появили точно при преминаването на растенията към сушата.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

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

Резултати накратко

Evolution of plant PWO proteins and their function: a synthetic biology approach

Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins are responsible for maintaining cellular identity in multicellular organisms, including plants. Among the PcG proteins, the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) plays a significant role in controlling the expression of crucial developmental genes by establishing the repressive epigenetic mark on specific target genes. The proper functioning of PRC2, along with its associated accessory proteins, is crucial for orchestrating gene expression patterns that govern various aspects of plant growth and development. Among the accessory proteins, PWWP DOMAIN INTERACTOR OF POLYCOMBS 1 (PWO1) serves as a recruiter and regulator of the PRC2 complex, highlighting the functional importance of PWO proteins in plant development. Furthermore, the loss of PWO proteins in Arabidopsis leads to seedling lethality and the arrest of shoot and root meristems, emphasizing the necessity of investigating the proper function of PWO in plant evolution. We began our research by establishing that PRC2 orthologs are highly conserved from unicellular algae to modern plants. However, we noted that the evolutionary pattern of PWO-like proteins differs. These proteins exclusively arise at a specific time in plant evolution, coinciding with the colonization of land and the emergence of vascular systems. This raises the question of why an essential and conserved PcG protein complex requires the addition of an accessory protein such as PWOs to fulfill its function at a specific time during plant evolution. This intriguing observation forms the fundamental hypothesis of the EvoPWO project. To address this, a synthetic biology approach was employed with the aim to assess the impact of ancestral PWOs functions in modern plants. Simultaneously, the fundamental question regarding the involvement of PWOs proteins in the PcG complex throughout plant evolution is also being investigated. Altogether, the EvoPWO project aimed to address the evolution and overall function of PWOs proteins across different species. The overall objective of the EvoPWO project was to analyse the function of ancestral PWOs in PWO-less species as well as in modern plants and investigate the interaction of ancestral PWOs to Arabidopsis PRC2 and CRWN1 proteins. Lastly, to identify regulatory proteins that interact with ancestral PWOs to regulate plant growth and development.

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

Цел на проекта

The Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins ensure the accuracy of developmental processes and maintain cellular identities in both plants and animals. Among the PcG proteins, Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) establishes the repressive state of targeted genes by introducing the H3K27me3 epigenetic mark. Recently, a novel PWWP DOMAIN INTERACTOR OF POLYCOMBS 1 (PWO1) protein has been identified as a recruiter and regulator of PRC2. PWO1 may also act as a mediator of PRC2 repression at the nuclear periphery (NP). Even though PRC2 orthologues are highly conserved from unicellular algae to modern plants, the PWO-like proteins do not seem to follow the same evolutionary pattern as they exclusively arise at a specific time in plant evolution, coinciding with the colonization of land and emergence of vascular systems. This poses the question of how PWO-like proteins shaped the evolution of the PcG pathway and contributed to plant evolution in a developmental context. To answer this, I plan to apply a synthetic biology approach with the aim to assess the impact of PWO-like proteins on PWO-less species, particularly to understand whether PWOs can reprogram PRC2 epigenetic activities. Furthermore, the inspection of ancestral PWOs functions in modern plants will provide essential information regarding the conservation of their activity, for instance, the PWO-mediated link of chromatin repression to the NP across the species. Lastly, the exploration of unknown interacting partners of PWO-like proteins in both ancestral and modern plants will give insights for the conservation and functions of the PWO-related protein network in PRC2 regulation. Altogether, this project will shed light on the potential mechanisms underlying the enrolment of PWOs function in developmental epigenetics during land plant evolution. The acquired expertise through the proposed project will be crucial for me to work as an independent researcher in the area of plant epigenetics and evolutionary biology.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

BIOLOGICKE CENTRUM AV CR VVI · Ceske BudejoviceКоординаторЧехия