Project description
Profiling a largely uncharacterised stress-responsive regulatory network in plants
Transfer RNA molecules carry the amino acids to the ribosomes during protein synthesis. Transfer RNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are a type of non-coding tRNA widely recognised as essential to protein translation. Although evidence suggests these molecules in plants are highly expressed in stress conditions, it is not clear what mechanisms lead to their accumulation, what biological processes they influence or what their mechanisms of action are. As a largely uncharacterised stress-responsive regulatory network in plants, this system has tremendous potential for applications in agriculture. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the UNROOT project plans to explore the precise mechanism, overall impact and complete population of tsRNAs in plants.
Objective
This proposal aims to explore the precise mechanism, overall impact and complete population of the small RNAs derived of transfer RNAs (tsRNAs) in plants. The proposed research would be carried out in a laboratory that specializes in RNA regulation and that made substantial contributions to the plant tRNA-derived sRNA field (Dr. German Martinez). Although it has been described that these molecules are highly expressed in stress conditions, we still lack a clear understanding of the biogenesis pathways that lead to tsRNA accumulation, as well as of the array of biological processes they influence and their mechanism of action. Additionally, because of the widespread presence of RNA modifications in these molecules, the unbiased genome-wide quantification is not possible with the conventional sequencing technologies. Therefore, these molecules represent a largely uncharacterized stress-responsive regulatory network in plants, and thus an exciting source of potential applications for agriculture. The experimental approach of this project will use a model plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) in order to characterize the tsRNA population and evaluate the importance of this regulatory layer under viral stress. First, a method to compare the accumulation profiles of tsRNAs based on the enzymatic removal of RNA modifications will be implemented. Second, the biogenesis pathway of tRNA-derived sRNAs will be studied using mutant plants, and how this affects viral infection will be evaluated with these mutant plants. Third, the genes targeted by tRNA-derived sRNAs will be identified using a combined approach based on the immunoprecipitation of crosslinked AGO proteins and ribosome profiling that determines the translation rate. Overall, the data that this project would obtain has the potential to shift our understanding of tsRNAs and provide cutting-edge applications for agriculture. Thus, the completion of this project would provide me a considerable professional maturity.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
750 07 Uppsala
Sweden
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