Study on the interactions between the biological clock and desiccation in photosynthetic eukaryotes

• Grant number: 13/05301-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Takeshi Hotta
• Grantee: Cícero Alves Lima Júnior
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/00818-8 - Development of alternative biological models for the study of sugarcane regulatory networks, AP.BIOEN.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/20040-5 - Interaction between abiotic factors and the biological clock: induction of seasonal algal growth, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Endogenous oscillators are ubiquitous in nature and allows organisms to synchronize their internal rhythms to the abiotic rhythms and anticipate significative changes in their habitat. Desiccation is a harsh stress that is present in all ecosystems, which through thousand years selected many groups of organisms that were able to tolerate it. Part of this tolerance is due to its anticipation through endogenous oscillators of the circadian rhythm. This project aims the study of the gene expression under desiccation of the circadian clock of two distinct organisms that are related only by a distant ancestor of the photosynthetic eukaryotes. Gracilaria tenuistipitata is a marine red seaweed which has been studied for many years in physiology, molecular biology and biological rhythms, besides its great importance in the production of carrageenan and agar. It can be found in intertidal regions of the coastline where is submitted to emersion and desiccation due the tide amplitude. Also in rhythmic way, but seasonally, the sugarcane is also submitted to desiccation which triggers the storage of energy as carbohydrates which also acts as drought protectors. For this reason it has been also exploited through hundreds of years for the production of bioethanol and sugar. Will be used strategies like quantification of the messenger RNA by RT-qPCR of the circadian rhythm genes and the genes of enzymes involved in the oxidative protection , enzymatic assays of these enzymes and analysis of the chlorophyll fluorescence response will be evaluated for the two species. For sugarcane, an analysis of an oligoarray composed by probes of 14.000 already made by other studies. This study will enhance the knowledge in the evolution and biochemical structure of the tolerance and anticipation mechanisms of desiccation.

Scientific publications

(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)

ALVES-LIMA, CICERO; CAVACANA, NATALE; TEIXEIRA CHAVES, GUSTAVO ANTONIO; DE LIMA, NATALIA OLIVEIRA; STEFANELLO, ELIEZER; COLEPICOLO, PIO; HOTTA, CARLOS TAKESHI. Reference genes for transcript quantification in Gracilaria tenuistipitata under drought stress. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYCOLOGY, v. 29, n. 2, p. 731-740, APR 2017. (13/05301-9, 10/14893-9, 11/00818-8, 10/50193-1, 13/08574-6)

DE BARROS DANTAS, LUIZA LANE; ALMEIDA-JESUS, FELIPE MARCELO; DE LIMA, NATALIA OLIVEIRA; ALVES-LIMA, CICERO; NISHIYAMA-, JR., MILTON YUTAKA; CARNEIRO, MONALISA SAMPAIO; SOUZA, GLAUCIA MENDES; HOTTA, CARLOS TAKESHI. Rhythms of Transcription in Field-Grown Sugarcane Are Highly Organ Specific. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 10, n. 1, APR 16 2020. (11/08897-4, 11/00818-8, 15/06260-0, 13/05301-9, 16/06740-4)

ALVES-LIMA, CICERO; AZEVEDO TEIXEIRA, ANDRE REIS; HOTTA, CARLOS TAKESHI; COLEPICOLO, PIO. A cheap and sensitive method for imaging Gracilaria (Rhodophyta, Gracilariales) growth. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYCOLOGY, v. 31, n. 2, p. 885-892, APR 2019. (13/05301-9, 15/06260-0, 16/06931-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

LIMA JÚNIOR, Cícero Alves. Circadian clock in photosynthetic eukaryotes (Archaeplastida) and stress adaptation. 2018. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Conjunto das Químicas (IQ e FCF) (CQ/DBDCQ) São Paulo.