Unleashing the full potential of terminators for the regulation of gene expression in plants

Overview

Ultimately, the proper development of a plant and its ability to adapt to its environment is the result of how plants’ genes are expressed and interact with each other. Hence, it is of extreme importance to understand the mechanisms used by plants to regulate gene expression.

Modification of the expression pattern of a gene is particularly important in modern biology. By changing the expression levels of a gene, it is possible to learn about its function, increase the production of a particular compound of economic importance, reduce or eliminate the accumulation of substances with a negative value for agriculture and even improve plant response to several sorts of biotic and abiotic stresses.

Terminators are genic elements mostly associated with the fundamental steps of transcription termination and mRNA polyadenylation. However, there is another aspect of terminator function that is still poorly understood: the impact of terminators on levels of gene expression. We have shown that the choice of terminator can have a dramatic effect on gene expression and that this process involves different levels of read-through transcription and the accumulation of small RNAs (sRNAs), one of the most important regulatory molecules in plants.

This project aims to better understand the mechanism involved in the terminator-dependent regulation of gene expression and to translate this knowledge into new biotechnological tools to manipulate the levels of gene expression.

Research activities

This project will make use of several plant molecular biology methods, such as PCR, molecular cloning, genetic transformation, gene expression studies, and small RNA analysis.

Outcomes

• This project will contribute to our understanding of a new pathway regulating gene expression which is based on the terminator function.
• Development of new biotechnological tools for manipulation of plant gene expression.

Skills and experience

You should have an interest in plant molecular biology and gene expression regulation. Some background in molecular biology, biotechnology, genomics and/or genetics is preferable.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

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Keywords

• Gene expression
• Small RNAs
• Silencing
• Terminator
• Genome manipulation

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.