More data about this group.
Last database update for these data: 2008-10-14 - Data extracted on 2009-04-14 from the database.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | RNA-directed RNA polymerases (RDRs) |
| Participants | Michael Wassenegger (Leader) Kajohn Boonrod Mirko Moser Nora Schwind Michèle Zwiebel Athanasios Dalakouras |
| Period | 2004 - 2009 |
| Description | In plants, four RDR homologues are presumably expressed. RDR1 seems to be directly involved in a virus defense mechanism. RDR2 is associated with nuclear processes (nuclear RNAi) and is essential for RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). RDR6 is one of the key enzymes of post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) and is mainly active in the cytoplasm. So far, no data have been published on the biological function of the RDR3a-3c homologues. To gain further information about the functionality of these enzymes all RDR cDNA sequences were isolated from N. tabacum. They will now be specifically inactivated in tobacco plants to analyze possible effects on PTGS, to examine variations in virus accumulation and to characterize the establishment of de novo DNA methylation patterns. In addition, tagged RDRs will be expressed in tobacco to identify RNA or protein components that associate with RDRs. Characterization of the components should help to extend our current knowledge on PTGS and RdDM. |
| Web page | Specific Web page |
| Viruses | Potato spindle tuber viroid |
| Plants | Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana benthamiana |
| Crops | Tobacco |
| Fundings | EU STREP, Function of small RNAs across kingdoms (FOSRAK) http://www.fosrak.org/ (terminated 12/31/2007) EU IP, Silencing RNAs: organisers and coordinators of complexity in eukaryotic organisms (SIROCCO) http://www.sirocco-project.eu/ |