Functional characterization of C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factors involved in the development of grass inflorescence

BELLINO CAROLINA D.;; REINHEIMER RENATA

Congreso; Monocots VI; 2018

The grass family (Poaceae) includes over 12,000 species among which are outstanding cereals that constitute a very important part of human intake. The final form of a grass inflorescence is the result of a balance between the ability of the axillary meristems to form branches or terminate in spikelets. The Cys2-His2-type (C2H2) zinc finger transcription factors seem to play a central role at this stage of development. By comparison of C2H2 zinc finger peptide sequences available on databases and others generated in our laboratory, we observed partial conservation of the sequences towards the C-terminal. The aim of this work is to explore the functional divergence of these proteins in grasses. To begin the characterization, we investigated the expression preference of the coding genes throughout the whole body of the plant (root, stem, leaf and inflorescence) in distinct grass species. In particular, such genes are preferentially expressed in inflorescences with developing branches. The expression decays at late stages of inflorescence development. In order to generate knowledge about their functions, plants of Arabidopsis thaliana that overexpressed theses genes were characterized. The phenotype suggests that these proteins have differential functions in regulating meristem development, hormone biosynthesis and signaling.