Arabidopsis 2010: A Comprehensive Resource for Analysis of Arabidopsis Gene Function

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PI: Gregory J. Hannon (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories)CoPIs: Robert A. Martienssen and W. Richard McCombie (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories)Determining the function of all the genes in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, will have a profound impact on both our understanding of plant biology and our ability to enhance desirable traits in agriculturally important plant species. Conventional methods for determining gene function generally rely on creating mutant versions of genes that are non-functional. This is accomplished by altering the gene itself and subsequently bringing both copies of a non-functional gene together in one plant. This strategy works for most of the ~30,000 Arabidopsis genes, which are present in the genome at single copy. However, roughly 8,000 Arabidopsis genes exist as families of closely related copies that are much more difficult to coordinately inactivate by conventional methods. The goal of this CSHL 2010 project is to develop resources that allow the function of the genes that form these multi-gene families to be determined. To accomplish this, the project will take advantage of a conserved biological pathway that acts as a programmable engine for gene silencing. This pathway is known as RNA interference or RNAi. In response to double-stranded RNA, RNAi turns off the expression of any gene that shares sequence with the silencing trigger. Unlike conventional mutants, one copy of an artificial gene expressing double-stranded RNA is sufficient to silence all members of even a multi-gene family. Moreover, double-stranded RNA production can be regulated in a manner that restricts the inactivation of genes to specific tissues or times in development. RNAi triggers against each of the 8000 genes that are present as members of Arabidopsis multi-gene families will be produced. Additionally, RNAi triggers against genes that are essential early in development will be created, as the ability to turn off the activity of these genes in selected tissues or in a timed manner may reveal aspects of their function that cannot be illuminated by conventional mutations. Resources developed through this project will complement existing mutant collections, as conventional tools are not suited to determining the function of genes within multi-gene families and genes with early lethal phenotypes. Without such complementary approaches, the goal of understanding the function of all genes in Arabidopsis by 2010 will be unattainable. All resources will be made readily available to the scientific community as they are developed through a public repository, the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center and through a commercial reagent distribution network, Open Biosystems. Access to information regarding the status of the resource, the overall project and how to obtain materials can be obtained from the project website at http://2010.cshl.edu. Information about the participating investigators and their research programs are also available. With respect to outreach and training, the project will leverage efforts at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories through the Dolan DNA Learning Center to incorporate the plant resources generated into their curriculum.