Obiettivo Stem cells are defined as those that give rise to a variety of differentiated cell types, while at the same time maintaining their own undifferentiated lineage. I am interested in testing whether conserved genes underlie stem cell functions in plants and animals, with emphasis on the less known aspect of these cells: the maintenance of the undifferentiated and pluripotent state. My host laboratory (working on Arabidopsis) and others (in mouse) have defined, by chip analysis, sets of genes that are preferentially expressed in plant and in mammalian stem cells. A comparison between those sets of genes revealed 22 that are common to both systems. This constitutes the first indication that indeed conserved stem cell functions could be shared between plants and animals. Among these shared genes, twelve are clearly related to cell cycle progression, at least one controls the transition to differentiation and others have unknown functions. I will focus on nine conserved genes for which no roles in cell proliferation have been reported. Totes whether these conserved genes are important for stem cell function in Arabidopsis, we will study their expression in moistens (where stem cells reside), their regulation by other meristematic genes, and analyse the effects of loss and gain of function. Once their function in Arabidopsis is defined we will asses whether their function is conserved also in mammals stem cells. The outcome of this project will be a better understanding of plant development and the identification of a set of genes that may be part of a conserved core of stem cell functions. From the training point of view, this project will expand my scientific expertise and approaches intone areas, give me the opportunity to establish new Europe-wide contacts and lay the foundation to pursue an independent research career after returning to my home country. Campo scientifico natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsmedical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cellsnatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologymammalogy Parole chiave cell cycle exit differentation meristem pluripotent pluripotent/undifferentiated state maintenance stem cell undifferentiated state maintenance Programma(i) FP6-MOBILITY - Human resources and Mobility in the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration "Structuring the European Research Area" under the Sixth Framework Programme 2002-2006 Argomento(i) MOBILITY-2.1 - Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships (EIF) Invito a presentare proposte FP6-2002-MOBILITY-5 Vedi altri progetti per questo bando Meccanismo di finanziamento EIF - Marie Curie actions-Intra-European Fellowships Coordinatore JOHN INNES CENTRE Contributo UE Nessun dato Indirizzo Norwich Research Park, Colney NORWICH Regno Unito Mostra sulla mappa Collegamenti Sito web Opens in new window Costo totale Nessun dato
