Objetivo
One of the most exciting aspects of plant science today is how much it contributes to general concepts in biology. The ability to combine a genetic analysis with detailed molecular and biochemical approaches offers real advantages for mechanistic analysis. A fascinating aspect of plant development and an economically very important trait is the switch from vegetative to reproductive development. Flowering time is the most studied developmental transition in plants and our molecular understanding of the genetic pathways regulating flowering time has explained the physiological characteristics that have intrigued biologists for over a century. Many flowering time genetic screens have identified a series of chromatin activities conserved among most complex organisms. The study of this conserved chromatin factors are not only relevant for plant development but for human cells as well because their misregulation is often associated with diseases such as cancer. I propose to study the interplay between SWR1 and NuA4 chromatin remodelling complexes in the control of flowering time. This innovative proposal differs from conventional flowering time studies by using genetic analysis combined with high-resolution chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments and protein complex purification. Collected data will allow comparison with the situation in non-plant systems, which will help the research community to develop a mechanistic consensus model on chromatin regulation in different kingdoms and further broaden our understanding on fundamental cellular processes. Moreover, comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of flowering time will allow enhancement of crop performance by modulating this trait at the molecular level and will thus be of great value to address the problems of food security that our society will be facing with the postulated global climate changes ahead.
Ámbito científico
Tema(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria
Régimen de financiación
MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)Coordinador
28040 MADRID
España