RNA processing in plant temperature acclimation
KEY POINTS- RNA splicing
- ambient temperature
- acclimation
Project overview
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Short summary
The project aims to understand the role of RNA processing in the regulation of plant growth and development in response to changes in ambient temperature
An environmental signal that can have pronounced effects on plant growth and development is ambient temperature. We have recently identified a mutant in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana that displays strong pleiotropic developmental defects in the shoot meristem and lateral organs specifically at low ambient temperature. The mutated gene, PORCUPINE, encodes a core splice factor, suggesting that alternative splicing of pre-mRNA might be involved in modulating growth and development in response to changes in ambient temperature and might contribute to establish phenotypic plasticity in plants.
Ongoing work aims to:
- identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the temperature-specific phenotype of the porcupine mutant
- study the general effect of temperature on (alternative) pre-mRNA splicing and its consequences for plant growth and development
- isolate and characterize new temperature-specific alleles affecting plant development
