Genetic science gaining momentum by silencing genes

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Genetic science gaining momentum by silencing genes 16-Oct-2004

News-Medical.Net

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.

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.

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.

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.

http://www.vib.be/