Descripción del proyecto
El reloj biológico de una planta puede indicarle cuándo producir nuevos órganos
Las plantas tienen su propio sistema de células madre multipotentes. Las células meristemáticas del meristemo apical del tallo (SAM, por sus siglas en inglés) son las encargadas del desarrollo de todos los órganos de una planta en la superficie. La creación de órganos (organogénesis) ocurre a lo largo de la vida de una planta y se modula por señales del entorno, como cambios en la temperatura y la luz. Las plantas, igual que los animales, también tienen su propio reloj circadiano que actúa como un complejo gestor del desarrollo. Clock-SAM investiga la relación entre los ritmos circadianos y la actividad del SAM valiéndose de cambios en la regulación de la expresión génica para obtener pistas. La comprensión de los mecanismos que controlan la organogénesis de las plantas podría tener importantes aplicaciones para aumentar la productividad de los cultivos de interés.
Objetivo
Plant growth and organogenesis are coordinated by stem cells located in specialized tissues known as meristems. Virtually all the aerial parts of the plant derive from stem cells located in niches at the shoot apical meristem (SAM), where they process internal and external cues to sustain their function. As cells are continuously produced at SAM, it is essential for plants to precisely regulate the timing of proliferation as development and plant organogenesis occurs over time throughout the life cycle. The circadian clock is the primary timing device that enables an organism to measure the pass of the time to precisely coordinate biological activities with the internal cues and its surrounding environment. Despite the importance of stem cell function, the mechanisms controlling the timing of SAM activity in synchronization with the environment remain essentially unknown. we propose to investigate the role of the circadian clock as a flexible biological metronome orchestrating the SAM activity in plants. The Clock-SAM proposal aims to generate a road-map of clock function, defining circadian similarities and divergences among the different functional states at the SAM and establishing the correlation between the circadian pace of the clock and cell fate and specification. We will follow an ambitious integrative approach combining epigenetic and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms to understand stem cell function. Our studies will thus answer a fundamental question in plant cell biology by determining how the plant is temporally constructed in our rotating world. The results from this proposal will provide a framework that can be tested for regulating plant productivity and survival in different environmental conditions. Hence, in the long term our findings could be applied to crops of agronomical interest.
Ámbito científico
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Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinador
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