Track
Poster Abstract
Title
Non-coding RNA Control of Plant Cell Wall Biosynthesis and Biofuel Properties
Subject Area
Biofuels Properties
Abstract
The synthesis of secondary cell walls is an important process in vascular plants. Walls not only make up the vascular system necessary to transport water and nutrients, they also act as a barrier against various predators and other environmental insults. While these abilities are vital to the survival of plants, they also make them difficult to process as feedstock for biofuel production. There are many genes that regulate the secondary cell wall biosynthesis, particularly the formation of one of its components: lignin, including microRNAs (miRNAs). As their name implies, miRNAs are short RNA transcripts; however, unlike mRNAs, they are not translated into proteins, but play critical roles in gene regulation through their interactions with other transcripts. In the model plant Arabidopsis, miRNA are predicted to play a role in the degradation cell wall biosynthesis genes. In order to functionally characterize these miRNA, they were cloned into a series of vectors and transformed using the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefacians into Arabidopsis. We will characterize target gene expression as well as the cell wall phenotype of mutant plants, including their biofuel feedstock quality. We will also screen for transcription factor proteins that interact with the miRNA promoters using a yeast one-hybrid assay. If the miRNA do indeed play a role in cell wall transcript stability, there should be an observable vascular development defect and altered cell wall properties perhaps resulting in a plant more amenable to conversion to biofuels.
Non-coding RNA Control of Plant Cell Wall Biosynthesis and Biofuel Properties
The synthesis of secondary cell walls is an important process in vascular plants. Walls not only make up the vascular system necessary to transport water and nutrients, they also act as a barrier against various predators and other environmental insults. While these abilities are vital to the survival of plants, they also make them difficult to process as feedstock for biofuel production. There are many genes that regulate the secondary cell wall biosynthesis, particularly the formation of one of its components: lignin, including microRNAs (miRNAs). As their name implies, miRNAs are short RNA transcripts; however, unlike mRNAs, they are not translated into proteins, but play critical roles in gene regulation through their interactions with other transcripts. In the model plant Arabidopsis, miRNA are predicted to play a role in the degradation cell wall biosynthesis genes. In order to functionally characterize these miRNA, they were cloned into a series of vectors and transformed using the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefacians into Arabidopsis. We will characterize target gene expression as well as the cell wall phenotype of mutant plants, including their biofuel feedstock quality. We will also screen for transcription factor proteins that interact with the miRNA promoters using a yeast one-hybrid assay. If the miRNA do indeed play a role in cell wall transcript stability, there should be an observable vascular development defect and altered cell wall properties perhaps resulting in a plant more amenable to conversion to biofuels.