Evaluation of the riboswitch theo/metE for gene silencing in Xanthomonas citri

• Grant number: 16/18519-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2016
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Henrique Ferreira
• Grantee: Danilo Bueno
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Genetic evaluation of any organism, especially of bacteria, requires tools to enable DNA alteration with subsequent characterization of emerging phenotypes. Among the techniques used, expression platforms based on riboswitches represent an excellent alternative that enable the modulation of gene expression without the need to remove/insert a coding DNA from/into an organism. Riboswitches can directly control gene expression at the transcription or the translational levels by just operating on the RNA coding for a characteristic, and being the switch itself part of this RNA (cis action): depending on a stimulus, the riboswitch will adopt a structural conformation allowing ("ON" state) or not ("OFF" state) the progress of transcription or translation. Here, we plan to adapt a theo/metE chimaera system to study the expression of essential (or difficult to study) genes in Xac. To evaluate the use of a riboswitch in Xac, we intend to characterize/modulate the expression of the gene parB. ParB operates on chromosome segregation and when perturbed leads to cell filamentation, a phenotype easy to be identified; additionally, we intend to test the riboswitch theo/metE to modulate/switch ON/OFF the expression of the amy gene of Xac, encoding for ±-amylase. If successful, this strategy can be an alternative for the future characterization of essential genes in this plant pathogen. (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)

BUENO, DANILO; PEDROLLI, DANIELLE B.; MARTINS, PAULA M. M.; BOCCHINI, DANIELA A.; MORAES, KAREN C. M.; FACINCANI, AGDA P.; FERRO, JESUS A.; VARANI, ALESSANDRO M.; PENA, MICHELLE M.; FERREIRA, HENRIQUE. Riboswitch theo/metE as a Transcription Regulation Tool for Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri. MICROORGANISMS, v. 9, n. 2, FEB 2021. (16/18519-0, 15/50162-2, 14/50880-0)

Academic Publications

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

BUENO, Danilo. Evaluation of riboswitch theo/metE for gene silencing in Xanthomonas citri. 2018. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Rio Claro Rio Claro.