Research gaining momentum by silencing genes
Along with five European academic laboratories, researchers
from the Flanders
Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB)
connected to Ghent University are accelerating the study of
the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Taking advantage of
the new RNAi technology, they are able to study the function
of genes with the aid of specially designed fragments that
turn off the corresponding genes. The scientists are
building a collection of such fragments in Arabidopsis.
Their ultimate goal is to contribute to the elucidation of
the functions of all the genes in this model organism.
Furthermore, this collection will also benefit research into
other organisms, namely humans and animals.
A
model system for plants, animals and humans
Arabidopsis thaliana or the mouse-ear cress (a member of the
mustard family) is a weed that is cultivated in numerous
labs. Indeed, due to its genetic simplicity − it contains
‘only’ 29,000 genes − it is the most widely studied plant.
The DNA sequence of Arabidopsis has been known for several
years, and scientists worldwide are now concentrating on the
search for the genes and the function of the proteins
involved. Not only will this lead to new insights into the
functioning of plant cells, which is important for
agriculture and nutrition, but it will also shed light on
the role of animal and human genes. More and more,
scientists are discovering that biological processes in
animals and humans are comparable to processes in plants.
Recent technology for studying genes
At
present, we know the function of only 5000 Arabidopsis genes
− and scientists want to identify the function of the other
80% as quickly as possible. Until recently, they would have
done this gene by gene, but research is rapidly evolving
towards investigating multiple genes in parallel. Of course,
new technologies are always needed to make these leaps, and
RNAi is one such technology. This new technology makes it
possible to prevent the production of a protein with a
specifically designed fragment that turns off the coding
gene. The removal of the protein then induces alterations in
the plant during its development, and from these alterations
researchers can deduce the function of the protein in
question.
Collection available to everyone
Pierre Hilson and his colleagues have made the use of RNAi
for the study of Arabidopsis genes a lot easier. In the
context of the AGRIKOLA European project, they are working
on a collection of ‘inactivating’ fragments for all
Arabidopsis genes. The current collection contains fragments
designed to inactivate more than 20,000 different genes.
This project will accelerate the study of the functions of
the Arabidopsis genes − and thus of other living organisms.
Scientists worldwide will soon be able to use the collection
to study plant proteins in a highly targeted manner.
The
initial results of the research from Pierre Hilson’s group
are to appear on October 15th
on the website of the authoritative journal
Genome Research (www.genome.org).
Relevant scientific publications
Hilson et al., Genome Research, 14, 2176-2189 (2004)
