Study of the Role of the Chromatin Remodeler MINUSCULE in Thermotolerance in Solanum lycopersicum

• Grant number: 24/21366-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira
• Grantee: Rafael Rubino
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Climate change directly impacts agriculture, impairing the development of cultivated plants. Among these changes, rising temperatures and prolonged heat exposure can negatively affect essential physiological processes in plant development, destabilize cellular membranes, inactivate enzymes, and lead to the excessive production of reactive oxygen species, resulting in oxidative stress and structural damage. Understanding the mechanisms by which plants respond to heat stress is essential for genetic improvement and the development of heat-tolerant crops. Chromatin remodelers play a fundamental role in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in both animals and plants and may be involved in mechanisms of tolerance and developmental adjustment under high-temperature conditions. Recent studies and preliminary evidence from our research group suggest that the chromatin remodeler MINUSCULE (MINU), which is plant-specific, is associated with the regulation of plant development and thermotolerance. This study aims to investigate the role of MINU in the thermotolerance of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) through phenotypic, molecular, and physiological analyses of transgenic lines with reduced activity of SlMINU (iSlMINU) and its association with the adaptation of plant development to high temperatures, a process known as thermomorphogenesis. Thus, this project seeks to unveil new functions of MINU in the thermotolerance of tomato plants. (AU)