Cross-talk between the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathway and energetic metabolism in plants

• Grant number: 14/10407-3
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Cooperation agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal researcher: Camila Caldana
• Grantee: Carolina Cassano Monte Bello
• Home Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/19561-0 - Regulation of plant growth by the Target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway, AP.BIOEN.JP

Abstract

Plant growth and development are maintained by a complex network controlled by both environment factors (such as light and nutrient availability) and molecular signaling pathways that interact with each other. One of the best examples is the "Target Of Rapamycin" (TOR) kinase, which plays a fundamental role in regulating cell growth and energy metabolism. Integrative analysis of transcript and metabolomics profiles in mutants with conditional silencing of TOR in the model plant Arabidopsis revealed a central role of this kinase not only in the carbon/nitrogen balance, but also in energy metabolism. Based on these observations, our research group is proposing a role for TOR as a potent metabolic switch, which can regulate both growth and nutrient partitioning, showing a potential biotechnological route in increasing biomass production and optimizing the carbon partitioning to produce biofuels. In this project, we intend to investigate the relationships between environmental factors and TOR signaling pathway in carbon allocation. This analysis will be performed in a comparative manner using the model plants with different mechanisms of photosynthesis, Arabidopsis thaliana (C3) and Setaria italica (C4). The influence of photoperiod and temperature on TOR kinase will be assessed through a combination of physiological, biochemical analysis (starch content, catalytic activity of important enzymes in primary metabolism), metabolic profile (including flux analysis) and gene expression. It is expected that the results generated will assist in elucidating the mode of action of TOR in the regulation of energy metabolism and plant growth, opening new perspectives for the manipulation of carbon allocation in plant species of great agronomic importance, such as sugarcane. (AU)

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)

DA SILVA, VIVIANE CRISTINA HEINZEN; MARTINS, MARINA C. M.; CALDERAN-RODRIGUES, MARIA JULIANA; ARTINS, ANTHONY; MONTE BELLO, CAROLINA CASSANO; GUPTA, SAURABH; SOBREIRA, TIAGO J. P.; RIANO-PACHON, DIEGO MAURICIO; MAFRA, VALERIA; CALDANA, CAMILA. Shedding Light on the Dynamic Role of the ``Target of Rapamycin{''} Kinase in the Fast-Growing C-4 Species Setaria viridis, a Suitable Model for Biomass Crops. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, v. 12, APR 13 2021. Web of Science Citations: 0.

MONTE-BELLO, CAROLINA C.; ARAUJO, ELIAS F.; MARTINS, MARINA C. M.; MAFRA, VALERIA; DA SILVA, VIVIANE C. H.; CELENTE, VIVIANE; CALDANA, CAMILA. A Flexible Low Cost Hydroponic System for Assessing Plant Responses to Small Molecules in Sterile Conditions. JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS, n. 138 AUG 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.