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Regulatory RNA in the control of developmental plasticity

 

Non-protein coding RNAs (npcRNAs)are novel emerging regulators involved in diverse developmental processes and abiotic stress responses. Among them, the small RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) or trans-acting small interfering RNAs (tasiRNAs) are known to regulate mRNA stability or translation of specific mRNA targets. Other post-transcriptional regulatory processes mediated by regulatory RNAs (or riboregulators) are being discovered, such as the role of natural antisense RNAs and of various ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), or epigenetic-related modifications of the genome. These regulatory RNAs may be key elements in the fine-tuning and quantitative regulation of development, as well as in integrating responses to environmental constraints.

Our laboratory is interested in deciphering the mechanisms of action of different riboregulators and their impact in plant growth and development by combining cell biology with genetic, genomic and molecular approaches in Arabidopsis and Medicago truncatula. The remarkable developmental plasticity of roots, their precisely defined gradient of differentiation, their capacity to form de novo meristems (lateral organs) from differentiated cells and their amenability for gene expression analysis, make them an attractive model to reveal mechanisms involving npcRNAs in adaptive developmental regulations to the environment. Hence, we focus our studies on the impact of post-transcriptional processes mediated by npcRNAs in root developmental plasticity. Our results support the notion that a variety of npcRNAs (both long and small) through their interaction with specific regulatory genes (such as ARF genes, transcription factors or DNA methylases) may modulate the developmental adaptation of the root system to environmental conditions (as summarized in figure 1), and consequently may be key regulators of root developmental plasticity.

 

 

2.1. Regulation of root growth and development by small RNAs

2.2. Cell biology of npcRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms

 

 

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