[Seminar] Dr. Misato Ohtani "Active mRNA metabolism is a key for the plastic regulation of cell potency in plants

High organ regenerative ability is one of characteristics of plants. This ability is based on the plastic regulation of cell potency for proliferation and differentiation. We have been studied molecular mechanisms supporting such flexible and plastic regulation of cell potency in plants, and showed that pre-mRNA splicing and ribosomal RNA processing are crucial for cell potency regulation. In addition to these mRNA metabolisms, we recently found the importance of non-sense mediated mRNA decay (NMD) and mRNA deadenylation for shoot regeneration. The NMD-deficient mutants upf1-1 and upf3-1 abnormally produced adventitious roots instead of adventitious shoots, suggesting that mis-conversion of stem cells from root-type to shoot-type. With our ongoing genome-wide mRNA half-life analysis during shoot regeneration, in this seminar, we would like to discuss the roles of active mRNA metabolism for cell potency regulation in plants.

Ohtani et al. (2013) Plant Cell 25, 2056–2069.

Ohtani et al. (2015) J Plant Res 128, 371–380.

Chiam et al. (2019) Plant Cell Physiol 60, 2000–2014.

Takayanagi et al. (2022) Plant Biotechnol in press.