Principal Investigator:

Prof. Dr. Marja Timmermans
University of Tuebingen
ZMBP Developmental Genetics and Cell Biology
Auf der Morgenstelle 32
72076 Tübingen
+49 7071 29 78099
marja.timmermansspam prevention@zmbp.uni-tuebingen.de
 

Summary:

Small RNAs form a new class of mobile instructive signals in development. We have shown that the plasmodesmatal movement of miRNAs within plant stem cell niches is precisely gated at individual cell-cell interfaces via mechanisms that act independently from any governing protein mobility. We now seek to understand how this specificity is generated, and what the underlying molecular mechanisms are. Questions as to how the cell-to-cell mobility of miRNAs is achieved and what the role of plasmodesmata is in gating mobility will be addressed. This will clarify the scope of small RNAs as mobile signals in development and beyond.