Coordinated regulation of floral transition by protein and long ncRNA components

描述（由申请人提供）：通过蛋白质和长非编码RNA组分协调调节花的转变项目摘要表观遗传机制使基因组能够适应发育和环境线索。开花是植物生命周期中的主要发育过程之一。植物已经进化出复杂的调节网络来控制开花时间，以响应内源和环境条件。我们使用花转变作为一个模型系统，研究真核生物基因表达的表观遗传调控。最近在真核生物中发现的长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）及其在各种发育程序中的功能越来越多，表明lncRNA在发育程序、癌症发生和其他人类疾病中发挥作用。尽管有一些充分表征的例子，但lncRNA的机制细节及其在发育中的潜在作用还没有得到很好的理解。我们最近的研究确定了第一个功能lncRNA在植物中，这是必要的适当的表观遗传沉默的发育调控基因，FLC。在这里，我们试图了解lncRNA在发育中作用的机制细节。我们的建议是阐明结构和调控组件管理蛋白质lncRNA介导的发育基因的表观遗传调控。我们的首要目标是围绕三个具体目标：1）识别和表征lncRNA，2）研究蛋白质和RNA组分协调调节发育基因的机制，3）采用遗传学方法来解决感知和测量环境变化（即寒冷）持续时间的机制，这是蛋白质-lncRNA介导的发育基因表达调控的上游事件。我们的方法来剖析lncRNA介导的表观遗传调控的机制细节将不仅有助于理解植物发育（即开花）的关键机制，而且有助于阐明基因表达的表观遗传调控机制，该机制在真核生物中具有深刻的进化根源。 公共卫生相关性：长链非编码RNA介导的基因表达调控越来越被认为是完全理解控制细胞发育命运的表观遗传机制的未知领域之一。花转变调控途径提供了一个模型系统，以研究“环境”诱导的表观遗传开关的发展计划。丰富的知识，蛋白质成分以及最近被认可的长非编码RNA成分，使花的转变一个合适的模型来了解基因调控的表观遗传机制。基因表达的表观遗传调控是真核生物基因调控的一个重要方面，包括酵母、果蝇和人类。因此，我们的研究具有更广泛的科学意义。此外，花转变的环境诱导性质将提供一个独特的机会，研究环境对发育程序中基因表达的表观遗传调控的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Coordinated regulation of floral transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components Project Summary Epigenetic mechanisms enable the genome to adapt to developmental and environmental cues. Flowering is one of the major developmental commitments in the plant life cycle. Plants have evolved intricate regulatory networks to control flowering time in response to both endogenous and environmental conditions. We use the floral transition as a model system to study epigenetic regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. Recent recognition of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in eukaryotes and growing examples of their function in various developmental programs indicate that lncRNAs play roles in developmental programs, carcinogenesis and other human diseases. Despite some well-characterized examples, mechanistic details of lncRNAs and their underlying roles in development are not well understood. Our recent study identified the first functional lncRNA in plants, which is necessary for the proper epigenetic silencing of a developmentally regulated gene, FLC. Here we seek to understand mechanistic details on the role of lncRNAs in development. Our proposal is to elucidate structural and regulatory components governing protein-lncRNA mediated epigenetic regulation of developmental genes. Our overriding goals are built around three specific aims: 1) Identify and characterize lncRNAs, 2) Study mechanisms in which protein and RNA components are coordinated to regulate developmental genes, 3) Employ genetic approaches to address the mechanisms to sense and measure the duration of environmental changes (i.e. cold), which are upstream events of protein-lncRNAs mediated regulation of developmental gene expression. Our approach to dissect the mechanistic details of lncRNA- mediated epigenetic regulation will be useful not only for understanding a key mechanism of plant development (i.e. flowering) but also for elucidating the mechanism of epigenetic regulation of gene expression which has a deep evolutionary root among eukaryotes. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Long noncoding RNA-mediated regulation of gene expression is increasingly recognized as one of uncharted areas to fully understand epigenetic mechanisms to control developmental fates of cells. Floral transition regulatory pathways provide a model system to study the "environmentally"-induced epigenetic switch of a developmental program. Rich knowledge on protein components as well as recently recognized long noncoding RNA components makes the floral transition a suitable model to understand epigenetic mechanism of gene regulation. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is a major regulatory theme in eukaryotic gene regulation, including Yeast, Drosophila and Human. Thus our study is of broader scientific interest. Furthermore, the environmentally induced nature of floral transition will provide a unique opportunity to study the effect of environment on the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in developmental programs.