Chotika Smathajitt. Molecular analysis of plant proteins that are involved in the regulation of transcriptional gene silencing . Master's Degree(Biotechnology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
Molecular analysis of plant proteins that are involved in the regulation of transcriptional gene silencing
Abstract:
Metastable silencing and activation of gene transcription crucial for
differentiation and environmental adaptation in multicellular eukaryotes are controlled
by complex epigenetic mechanisms. Although the exact molecular mechanisms
underlying epigenetic modifications are not yet known, they involve complex
interplays between DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling, and histone
modifications. Transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) is an example of epigenetic gene
regulation.
This work aimed to study the role of proteins that are involved in maintenance of
TGS. Previous study isolated the TGS regulator required for its maintenance in
Arabidopsis, MOM1 (Morpheus’ Molecule1), which seems to function independent of
DNA methylation changes. The amino acid sequence analysis reveals two domains
with homologies to the half-helicases of SWI2/SNF2 ATPase and chicken tensin,
respectively. This raises the possibilities of complex formation between MOM1 and
yet unidentified partners. We identified MOM1 interacting partners by yeast twohybrid
screening of Arabidopsis cDNA expression library using MOM1 regions
covering both conserved domains as baits. We examined two candidates, SWI3A and
DAD1 in detail. SWI3A is a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex.
DAD1 is an unknown protein with homology to proteins in other organisms across the
kingdoms. We showed that both proteins play an essential role in Arabidopsis since
homozygous mutant plants for each insertion were lethal. The specific interaction
between MOM1 and DAD1 was further confirmed by in vitro pull-down assay. The
functional relationship between MOM1 and the candidates was studied by the
assessment of the release of TGS in lines carrying T-DNA insertions in the genes in
question. Furthermore DNA methylation status and nuclear architecture were
examined in these mutant lines. Currently, we can conclude that the two proteins
interact with MOM1 and that both have functional importance during early
development in Arabidopsis. The relevance of the two proteins in TGS requires further
investigations using conditional mutant strains which are currently being constructed.
This investigation into proteins involved in TGS may provide important basic
knowledge of the underlying the control of epigenetic regulation in plants.