| Grant number: | 16/06740-4 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation |
| Effective date (Start): | June 01, 2016 |
| Effective date (End): | May 31, 2018 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Biochemistry |
| Principal Investigator: | Carlos Takeshi Hotta |
| Grantee: | Natalia Oliveira de Lima |
| Home Institution: | Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
Abstract The circadian clock is a molecular regulatory mechanism that is synchronous with environmental variables in order to measure diurnal and seasonal cycles. In plants, it is known that the circadian clock regulate most of metabolism, including photosynthesis. In addition to photosynthetic genes, chloroplast genes are also subject to circadian control. Recently, it was discovered that circadian clock genes expression is not identical in all plant cells: enriched samples of the mesophyll and vasculature tissues have different gene expression profiles of core elements of the circadian oscillator, as AtLHY and AtTOC1. Additional studies suggest a hierarchical structure between these tissues. This project aims to investigate the regulation of genes transcription of C4 photosynthesis and circadian clock in whole leaves and specific cells (mesophyll, bundle sheath and vasculature) of Setaria viridis and sugarcane, which are plants of scientific and economic interest, respectively. C4 species have the photosynthesis apparatus distributed and coordinated between the mesophyll and bundle sheath. Therefore, there is a possible coupling between the circadian clocks of two tissues. For this purpose, will be optimize methods of plant tissue separation for these organisms and will be performed real time PCR to verify the circadian rhythms of the expressions of genes that interest for photosynthesis and circadian clock. C4 crops represent many of the most productive in the world, such as corn, sorghum and sugarcane, so it is economically interesting to unravel molecular aspects that help increase the productivity of these types of plants. | |