Identification and characterization of new structured RNA classes in plants

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The last 20 years has seen a revolution in our understanding of the impact and versatility of non-coding and cis-regulatory RNAs in biology. Among the most profound discoveries are small RNAs, CRISPR/Cas, and riboswitches, but many other RNA findings have propelled research in related systems or processes, and in a variety of organisms. In plants, structured RNAs (strucRNAs) conserve a biologically important structure and impact gene regulation using a variety of mechanisms, including control of alternative splicing (AS). We propose to combine our expertise in RNA bioinformatics and plant RNA biology in order to discover novel strucRNAs in plants, and to study their biology and mechanisms. We have already identified two promising strucRNAs for which preliminary experiments suggest a role in gene regulation via AS. We will experimentally analyze these strucRNAs, and develop strategies to find novel strucRNAs in plants that may exhibit a variety of possible functions. We anticipate that these studies will reveal fundamental insights into functions and mechanisms of strucRNAs, as well as information on the pathways and biological processes impacted by these RNAs.