Temperature dependent modulation of plant heat stress transcription factor activities by alternative splicing

植物的热胁迫反应是一个复杂的现象，涉及许多细胞过程的大规模重组。热应激转录因子（Hsf）驱动应激相关蛋白的上调，这些蛋白对于生存和从应激中恢复至关重要。Hsfs的活性在应激反应的不同阶段受到多层次的调控机制，包括转录本丰度的调节、蛋白质复合物的形成和蛋白质降解。最近的研究结果表明，前体mRNA剪接影响的丰度和Hsfs在压力以及。该项目旨在破译所观察到的选择性剪接对Hsfs丰度和活性的功能相关性，以及应激相关选择性剪接过程的分子细节。该项目的重点是识别基因特异性特征，如顺式元件和RNA结构，以及参与温度特异性前mRNA剪接的剪接因子。除了Hsfs之外，还将研究选择性剪接对转录组变化的全球影响及其与植物承受高温胁迫能力的关系。番茄（Solanum lycopersicum）被用作模式生物，因此，我们预见，这些发现将促进开发新的工具，用于改善目前的种质在热胁迫耐受性方面。

Heat stress response in plants is a complex phenomenon involving massive re-organization of many cellular processes. Heat stress transcription factors (Hsf) drive the upregulation of stress-related proteins which are vital for survival and recovery from stress. The activity of Hsfs is subjected to multilevel control mechanisms during different phases of stress response, including regulation of transcript abundance, protein complex formation and protein degradation. Recent results suggest that pre-mRNA splicing affects the abundance and Hsfs during stress as well. This project aims to decipher the functional relevance of the observed alternative splicing on the abundance and activity of Hsfs as well as the molecular details of the process of stress-related alternative splicing. The project focuses on the identification of gene-specific features like cis-elements and RNA structure as well as splicing factors that are involved in temperaturespecific pre-mRNA splicing. Beyond Hsfs, the global effect of alternative splicing on transcriptome changes and its relation to the capacity of plants to withstand high temperature stress will be investigated. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is used as model organism and therefore we foresee that the findings will foster the development of new tools for improvement of the current germplasm in terms of heat stress tolerance.