30.01.2024: Friedrich Kragler (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, DE): Lost in translation? The long-distance travel of messenger RNAs. HS 31.11, Institut für Biologie, Bereich Pflanzenwissenschaften, Schubertstraße 51, 17.00 bis 18.30 Uhr
Apart from sugars, peptides and hormones, also large proteins and RNAs are allocated via the vasculature to distant tissues. This includes all major classes of endogenous RNAs such as small si/miRNAs, transfer RNAs, and full-length protein-encoding messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Recent advances in the analysis of the transcriptomes from grafted Arabidopsis plants revealed that hundreds of mRNA transcripts move along the plant axis in both directions from shoot to root and from root to shoot.
A surprisingly high number of mRNAs are delivered to distinct cell types and tissues such as flowers, leaves and/or roots. To confirm the functionality of long-distance transported mRNAs, we fused mobile to reporter transcripts. These fusion constructs are transported to grafted wild-type tissues where they are translated to functional proteins in recipient tissues. Our data indicate that mRNA transport does not depend on expression levels or stability. Rather a selective mRNA transport is determined by RNA-binding proteins, RNA structure and secondary m5C base modifications. In line, the graft-mobile mRNA transcriptome changes depending on developmental stages and growth conditions and, as indicated with some graft-mobile mRNAs, seems to be required for normal plant growth.