Study of the effect of UV-B radiation on the Retinoblastoma pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

MA. SOL GOMEZ; PAULA CASATI

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LI Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2015

The development and growth of multicellular organisms depend on the correct spatiotemporal coordination of cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and subsequent cell specialization. Cell division is a tightly regulated process that is influenced by innate genetic cues as well as by external environmental signals. The Retinoblastoma pathway (RBR) has an important role in the control of cell division and proliferation in plants. Because UV-B radiation negatively affects cell proliferation and development, we analyzed the effect of this radiation in different Arabidopsis thaliana mutants and transgenic lines; these plants have altered expression of genes encoding members of the RBR pathway, in particular the E2F transcription factors. We are now investigating the role of E2Fc, which is a transcription factor that negatively regulates the expression of genes that participate in cell division. Our results show that plants with decreased levels of E2Fc (E2FcRNAi) that were UV-B irradiated, had decreased inhibition of leaf growth than wild type plants. We also evaluated physiological parameters after UV-B exposure, and analyzed the expression of UV-B regulated genes. Together, our data demonstrate that E2Fc participates in UV-B responses in Arabidopsis thaliana.