OVERVIEW
Making tasiRNAs, a (not so) new method of silencing genes and keeping transgenes alive.
Gene silencing induced by small RNAs (sRNAs) is an important mechanism responsible for many crucial physiological responses in plants, such as genome integrity, defence against virus, adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses and regulation of development.
In the first part of his talk, Felipe will give an overview of my past contributions to the field, focusing on the biogenesis of trans-acting small interfering RNAs (tasiRNAs) and how these findings can be used as a tool for biotechnological purposes.
For the second part of his presentation, Felipe will talk about my current work at QUT, namely the role of sRNAs in the defence of the genome against invading sequences and its consequences to the stability of transgenes.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Felipe Fenselau de Felippes (Genetics and Biotechnology, QUT)
Felipe majored in Biology and did his Master in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. He then joined the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (Tübingen, Germany) as a PhD student, working in different aspects concerning sRNAs, such as the origin and evolution of micro RNAs, mobility of sRNAs and the biogenesis of tasiRNAs. He continued his research with sRNAs as a postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. Since 2017 Felipe works in the group of Prof. Peter Waterhouse at QUT, studying the role of sRNAs in the recognition of self and non-self and also in the improvement of CRISPR/CAS9 technology in plants.
