Studies of the cell autonomy and tissue dependency of clock-gene functions in plants

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19H03245
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 44030:Plant molecular biology and physiology-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Oyama Tokitaka 京都大学, 理学研究科, 准教授 (30324396)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 概日時計 / 植物細胞 / 時計遺伝子 / 発光レポーター / 細胞間相互作用 / 細胞自律性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The plant circadian system is based on self-sustained cellular oscillations and these cellular clocks are coordinated in the plant body. In order to understand the plant circadian system from the aspect of cellular clocks, the bioluminescence reporter system was utilized for Arabidopsis and duckweed plants at a single cell level. Characterization of circadian rhythms of isolated cells, cells in the plant, and proliferating plants was done and the spontaneous order formation of circadian rhythms in the plant was analyzed. A Tool for gene disruption by the CRISPR/cas9 system and a dual-color luminescence monitoring system were developed and evaluated. A cellular circadian rhythm that was unaffected by perturbation of clock gene expression was revealed. The existence of a cellular physiological rhythm that is uncoupled with the cellular clock provides a new insight into our understanding of the plant circadian system.

Free Research Field

時間生物学、植物生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

植物個体内で細胞時計と細胞の概日リズムが分離可能であることを本研究で明確に示したことで、植物の概日時計システムの基本的な概念を新たに提案することができた。この点は、時間生物学分野に加えて一般的な植物生理学分野にも広く新たな展開を引き起こすと期待される。また、生物発光測定技術や遺伝子改変技術についての革新的な成果は、植物に限らず細胞レベルの遺伝子発現解析・機能解析に広く応用されていくと期待される。