Project Details
Projekt
Comparative analysis of miRNA networks regulating flowering
Applicant
Professor Detlef Weigel, Ph.D.
Subject Area
Plant Breeding and Plant Pathology
Term
from 2011 to 2014
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 196931075
In the past 15 years we have learned a great deal about the genetic and molecular basis of flowering time control, particularly in two species, the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana and the monocot rice. Transferring this knowledge to other crops and trees has, however, not always been straight-forward, because of two main reasons: First, we have an insufficient understanding of conservation and divergence of flowering time networks within and between species. Second, the pleiotropic effects of flowering time regulators are only poorly understood. Here, we propose a comparative analysis in the Brassicaceae, which include both the model plant A. thaliana and Brassica crops, to investigate two microRNA (miRNA) modules controlling flowering as well as other aspects of plant development and physiology: miR156 and its SPL transcription factor targets, and miR172 and its AP2-related targets. Our integrated program incorporates (i) sequence-driven approaches that exploit the availability of a rapidly increasing number of genome sequences in the Brassicaceae, coupled with ultra-high throughput sequencing of small RNA populations; (ii) comparative phenotypic analyses in several species; and (iii) genetic screens that make use of the incredible ease with which novel mutations can be mapped and molecularly identified due to recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
