Identification and characterization of new structured RNA classes in plants

在过去的20年里，我们对非编码和顺式调控RNA在生物学中的影响和多功能性的理解发生了革命。最有意义的发现是小RNA、CRISPR/Cas和核糖开关，但许多其他RNA发现推动了相关系统或过程以及各种生物体的研究。在植物中，结构化RNA（strucRNA）保存了生物学上重要的结构，并通过多种机制影响基因调控，包括控制选择性剪接（AS）。我们将联合收割机在RNA生物信息学和植物RNA生物学方面的专业知识结合起来，以发现植物中的新型结构RNA，并研究其生物学和机制。我们已经确定了两个有前途的strucRNA，初步实验表明通过AS在基因调控中发挥作用。我们将通过实验分析这些strucRNA，并制定策略，在植物中发现可能表现出各种可能功能的新型strucRNA。我们预计，这些研究将揭示对strucRNA的功能和机制的基本见解，以及受这些RNA影响的途径和生物过程的信息。

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.