Characterizing the transcription factor SHN regulation targets by ChIP-qPCR

• Grant number: 16/23437-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2016
• End date: October 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Michael dos Santos Brito
• Grantee: Paulo Henrique da Silva Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto Agronômico (IAC). Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/08468-4 - Identification of target genes regulated by the SHINE transcription factor in monocot plants, AP.BIOEN.JP

Abstract

Currently, ethanol is produced worldwide using mainly sugar cane and corn as raw material. After milling of maize grain or stalk of sugarcane, much of the biomass rich in cellulose, it is lost. One of the major bottlenecks for the best use of this biomass, for second generation ethanol, is the presence of lignin adhered to the cell wall of the cellulose and in this scenario, transgenic plants with a different lignin composition represent an interesting alternative. Among many potential genes for metabolic engineering of lignin, transcription factors (TFs) involved in its biosynthesis are primary targets, such as the FT SHINE (SHN) functionally characterized in Arabidopsis (AtSHN) and in rice, involved respectively as a mater regulator of wax and lignin, showing different behavior in these two plant models. Basing on this, function performed by an TF in the regulation of a pathway may occur species-specific manner. Using two sugarcane genotypes (IACSP04-065 and IACSP04-627) contrasting for lignin content was found SHN homolog gene and hence a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP) was initiated with the purpose of validating target genes of SHN. So this project involves validation steps of target genes with in silico analysis of promoter regions for primer design and implementation of ChIP qPCR tests. The results to the project's end will be important in elucidating the role played by SHN in the construction of the secondary cell wall in sugarcane. (AU)