RNA splicing control of meristem identity, cell division and differentiation in Arabidopsis.

植物和动物通过调节数千个基因的活动来控制它们的发育，从单细胞到复杂的多细胞有机体。每个基因产生一个RNA分子，一度人们认为一个RNA分子包含产生一种蛋白质的信息。近年来发现，复杂的生物实际上可以拼接给定的RNA分子的片段，以产生最终成熟的RNA的替代版本，这反过来意味着可以从单个基因产生更多多样性的蛋白质。这种产生一系列剪接版本的RNA被称为选择性剪接，有助于精细地控制细胞的活动。然而，选择性剪接在特定发育过程中的机制和作用仍处于非常早期的阶段。我们已经确定了一个名为mdf的植物基因，我们有新的信息表明，它在调节RNA剪接以调节植物生长区域的细胞特性和细胞分裂活动方面发挥了新的作用，即顶端分生组织。该项目旨在了解哪些RNA被MDF拼接，以及这些目标RNA如何对调节分生组织活性的复杂基因网络做出贡献。

Plants and animals control their development, from single cell to complex multicellular organism, by regulating the activities of thousands of genes. Each gene produces an RNA molecule, and at one time it was thought that one RNA molecule contains the information to produce one protein. It has been discovered in recent years that complex organisms can in fact splice sections of a given RNA molecule, to generate alternative versions of the final, mature RNA, and this in turn means that a greater diversity of proteins can be produced from a single gene. This production of a range of spliced versions of RNAs is called alternative splicing, and contributes to the fine level of control to regulate the activities of cells. The mechanism and role of alternative splicing in specific developmental processes is still, however, at a very early stage. We have identified a plant gene, termed MDF, for which we have new information indicating a novel role in regulating RNA splicing to regulate cell identitity and cell division activity in the growing regions of plants, the apical meristems. The project aims to understand which RNAs are spliced by MDF, and how these target RNAs contribute to the complex network of genes regulating the activity of meristems.