Molecular control of shoot architecture: interplay between microRNAs, transcription factors and phytohormones

• Grant number: 18/17441-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2019
• End date: April 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Grantee: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Carla Schommer ; Guilherme Targino Valente ; Luciano Freschi ; Robert Werner Marin Sablowski ; Thomas B Jacobs
• Associated research grant(s): 19/27209-3 - Multi-user equipament approved in the grant 2018/17441-3: imaging system Newton 7.0, AP.EMU
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/00837-7 - Transformation of tomato plants using CRISPR/Cas9 vectors and establishment of yeast one-hybrid assays, BP.TT; 20/12940-1 - Study of the interaction between the microRNA156/SPL module and two hormones (brassinosteroid and gibberellin) during early hypocotyl growth, BP.DR; 19/20157-8 - Evaluation of possible interactions between photoperiodic, age and gibereline flowering pathway with SP/SFT module and its impacts on tomato architecture (Solanum lycopersicum L.), BP.PD; 19/25205-0 - Luciferase activity assays to evaluate the regulation of specific promoters from tomato and Arabidopsis, BP.IC; 19/24101-7 - Generation and analysis of base editor (BE) CRISPR/Cas9-based SlSBP tomato mutants, BP.PD

Abstract

Fundamental questions in plant biology include how cells and tissues maintain their identity over time and how they switch from one stable state to the next. Understanding such basic questions may help us to better predict how plants modulate their shoot architecture in response to endogenous cues and the environment. Shoot architecture is one of the main developmental factors affecting plant productivity. Predictable, plants have evolved intricate regulatory networks to module their shoot architecture, which include phytohormones, transcription factor-regulated transcriptional programming, and epigenetic factors like microRNAs. However, how these different factors integrate to control shoot architecture at molecular and cellular levels is still unclear in most species. Following our findings that microRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate different aspects of sugarcane and tomato development by interacting with phytohormones [1-4], the characterization of miRNA-based patterning mechanisms and their association with phytohormones is a central aspect of our work. For example, we are studying the interaction between the gibberellin-negative regulator DELLA with miRNA-controlled pathways during flower and shoot development. Moreover, we are evaluating the interactions between phytohormones and microRNA modules in the control of axillary shoot branching, which directly influence shoot architecture. For each of the research areas, we intend to employ developmental genetics, genome editing (via CRISPR/Cas9-based technologies), next generation sequencing (NGS), imaging, and bioinformatics approaches. Moreover, we use Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) in our studies, as each model organism offers unique experimental advantages and because comparative studies can provide an evolutionary perspective on key genetic pathways associated with the establishment of the shoot architecture. (AU)

Scientific publications

(9)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BARRERA-ROJAS, CARLOS HERNAN; BRAGA ROCHA, GABRIEL HENRIQUE; POLVERARI, LAURA; PINHEIRO BRITO, DIEGO ARMANDO; BATISTA, DIEGO SILVA; NOTINI, MARCELA M.; FERREIRA DA CRUZ, ANA CLAUDIA; ORTIZ MOREA, EDNA GICELA; SABATINI, SABRINA; OTONI, WAGNER CAMPOS; et al. miR156-targeted SPL10 controls Arabidopsis root meristem activity and root-derived de novo shoot regeneration via cytokinin responses. Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 71, n. 3, p. 934-950, JAN 23 2020. (15/17892-7, 18/17441-3)

PIERDONA, FLAVIANI G.; CARBAJAL, YAJAHAIRA; VICENTE, MATEUS H.; FERIGOLO, LETICIA F.; NOGUEIRA, FABIO T. S.. Faster Bacterial Gene Cloning Using the Brick into the Gateway (BiG) Protocol. BIO-PROTOCOL, v. 12, n. 24, p. 10-pg., 2022-12-20. (18/17441-3, 20/12940-1, 19/20157-8, 21/14640-8)

DA SILVA, EDER M.; NOGUEIRA, FABIO T. S.. Guarding tomato fruit setting in adverse temperatures through the miRNA166-SIHB15A regulatory module. MOLECULAR PLANT, v. 14, n. 7, p. 3-pg., 2021-07-05. (17/17000-4, 18/17441-3)

FERIGOLO, LETICIA F.; VICENTE, MATEUS H.; NOGUEIRA, FABIO T. S.. Brick into the Gateway (BiG): A novel approach for faster cloning combining Golden Gate and Gateway methods. PLASMID, v. 121, p. 8-pg., 2022-04-12. (19/20157-8, 18/17441-3)

VISENTIN, IVAN; FERIGOLO, LETICIA FRIZZO; RUSSO, GIULIA; KRUKOWSKI, PAOLO KORWIN; CAPEZZALI, CATERINA; TARKOWSKA, DANUSE; GRESTA, FRANCESCO; DEVA, ELEONORA; NOGUEIRA, FABIO TEBALDI SILVEIRA; SCHUBERT, ANDREA; et al. Strigolactones promote flowering by inducing the miR319- LA- SFT module in tomato. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. 121, n. 19, p. 10-pg., 2024-05-07. (18/17441-3)

BARRERA-ROJAS, CARLOS HERNAN; OTONI, WAGNER CAMPOS; SILVEIRA NOGUEIRA, FABIO TEBALDI. Shaping the root system: the interplay between miRNA regulatory hubs and phytohormones. Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 72, n. 20, p. 6822-6835, OCT 26 2021. (18/17441-3)

ALVES, CRISTIANE S.; NOGUEIRA, FABIO T. S.. Plant Small RNA World Growing Bigger: tRNA-Derived Fragments, Longstanding Players in Regulatory Processes. FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES, v. 8, JUN 7 2021. (18/17441-3)

MACHADO, KLEITON LIMA DE GODOY; FARIA, DANIELE VIDAL; DUARTE, MARCOS BRUNO SILVA; SILVA, LAZARA ALINE SIMOES; DE OLIVEIRA, TADEU DOS REIS; FALCAO, THAIS CASTILHO ARRUDA; BATISTA, DIEGO SILVA; COSTA, MARCIO GILBERTO CARDOSO; SANTA-CATARINA, CLAUDETE; SILVEIRA, VANILDO; et al. Plant age-dependent dynamics of annatto pigment (bixin) biosynthesis in Bixa orellana. Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 75, n. 5, p. 17-pg., 2023-12-08. (18/17441-3)

SOARES, JESSICA RIBEIRO; ROBLEDO, KERLY JESSENIA MONCALEANO; DE SOUZA, VINICIUS CARIUS; DIAS, LANA LAENE LIMA; SILVA, LAZARA ALINE SIMOES; DA SILVEIRA, EMERSON CAMPOS; SOUZA, CLAUDINEI DA SILVA; SOUSA, ELISANDRA SILVA; SODRZEIESKI, PEDRO ALEXANDRE; SARMIENTO, YOAN CAMILO GUZMAN; et al. Proper activity of the age-dependent miR156 is required for leaf heteroblasty and extrafloral nectary development in Passiflora spp.. NEW PHYTOLOGIST, v. 245, n. 5, p. 18-pg., 2024-12-12. (18/17441-3)