Abstract

Small (s)RNAs are specificity determinants of silencing mechanisms that can target exogenous or endogenous RNA through base pairing to affect RNA stability and/or translation in a wide spectrum of organisms.  In plants there is a particularly complex set of sRNAs and multiple pathways of RNA silencing that mediate gene expression and chromatin responses to external stimuli, differences between genotypes and changes during development. In this project I aim to test the hypothesis that small RNA (sRNA) molecules play a fundamental role in gene regulatory networks (GRNs) in addition to proteins and metabolites.  In this seminar I will present the progress made so far on the identification of these networks and the future plans to model them, test their topology and make testable predictions about their properties and effects on growth and development of plants.