TRANSPLANT

Regulation of transposable elements in plants and impact on genome evolution

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic elements present in virtually all genomes. They make up nearly half of the total amount of DNA in plant genomes, so definition of their influence on genome structure and gene expression is of clear significance to the understanding of global genome regulation and phenotype variations. The movement of TEs within genomes can generate mutations by interrupting or modifying the regulation or the coding capacity of genes, and recombination between transposon copies located at different chromosomal regions can generate chromosomal rearrangements. Work done over the last few years has confirmed that TEs are at the origin of an important number of genes and regulatory sequences and that transposition has been essential for the evolution of complex genomes. They also have an important role in chromatin structure and function. Miniature Inverted Repeat Transposable Elements (MITEs) constitute a particular type of mobile elements that are present in high copy numbers in genomes. The objective of the project is to study the impact of MITEs in the regulation of nearby genes and to analyze their possible role as genome organizer elements. To this end, we will start applying dedicated bioinformatic tools to complete the Arabidopsis MITE landscape, and we will analyze the epigenetic marks associated to these elements. In a second stage of the project we will analyze their influence on the expression of neighboring genes taking advantage of the variability of MITE insertions in different Arabidopsis ecotypes. Finally, we will analyze the possible role of selected MITE families as genome organizers, by studying their localization in chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and by chromosome conformation capture approaches. In conclusion, this project constitutes an exciting combination of bioinformatics and cellular and molecular biology approaches for the analysis of genome structure and regulation via TEs.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Moving genetic elements from one location to another in a genome makes for a very dynamic situation in terms of development and disease. An EU-funded project has investigated a special type of micro transposable element and its impact on neighbouring genes.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Movable gene sequences are a potent means of modifying a genome. These so-called transposable elements (TEs) or jumping genes can generate mutations by being placed in a strategic position in relation to a gene. They may also be the source of chromosomal rearrangements.

Making up over half of the DNA in an organism gives an idea of how important these transportable elements may be to gene expression, development and evolution. The ' Regulation of transposable elements in plants and impact on genome evolution' (Transplant) project aimed to elucidate their role in the ubiquitous model plant Arabidopsis, commonly known as Shepherd's Purse.

The focus of the Transplant researchers centred in particular on miniature inverted repeat transposable elements (MITEs). Present in large numbers in the genome and too small to encode a protein, MITEs constitute a special type of transposable element in the genome.

Project scientists wanted to ascertain the influence of MITEs on the expression of neighbouring genes. The project also aimed to analyse whether the miniature sequences played a role in organising the genome.

Transplant researchers have developed appropriate bioinformatics tools to refine the information on the Arabidopsis genome. The influence of the transposable elements was also investigated. Continuing project research will focus on levels of methylation associated with selected MITEs to confirm the bioinformatics data so far collected.

Genomic progress has been meteoric since the first complex genetic regulatory mechanism was proposed on the lac operon some five decades ago. The scope for applications for jumping gene control is even more immense and spans the entire field of analysis of genomic structure and regulation.