# Coordinated regulation of developmental transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2022 · $321,111

## Abstract

Coordinated regulation of developmental transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components
Project Summary
Epigenetic mechanisms enable organisms to adapt to developmental and environmental cues. Plants have
evolved intricate regulatory networks to control development in response environmental stimuli such as
temperature and light. For example, prolonged cold triggers vernalization, a process that accelerates
flowering through epigenetic changes in genes involved in development. Therefore, the vernalization
response in Arabidopsis is an excellent model system for study of complex epigenetic regulation of gene
expression triggered by environmental cues in eukaryotes. Vernalization-mediated epigenetic changes
include the formation of chromatin loops and alterations in chromatin modifications and in expression of long
noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Changes in the three-dimensional structure of the genome, such as formation of
local chromatin loops, are increasingly recognized as important gene regulatory events in eukaryotes;
however, how chromatin modifications and lncRNAs coordinate to influence gene expression through
changes in the three-dimensional structure of the genome is not well understood. Here we seek to
understand the mechanistic details of how the three-dimensional structure of the genome influences gene
regulation in vivo using developmental changes in flowering and photomorphogenesis as phenotypical read-
outs. Our overriding goal is to elucidate structural and regulatory components governing protein- and
lncRNA-mediated epigenetic gene regulation in Arabidopsis through three specific aims designed to: 1)
elucidate the detailed mechanisms of chromatin structure-mediated gene regulation focusing on two groups
of chromatin architectural proteins that we showed coordinate gene regulation through the formation of
chromatin loops, 2) characterize mechanisms underlying light signaling-mediated chromatin conformation
changes, and 3) characterize genome-wide changes in chromatin structure induced by environmental stimuli.
Our approach will reveal the mechanistic details of chromatin structure-based epigenetic regulation by both
protein and lncRNA components during flowering and photomorphogenesis. These findings will further our
understanding of the mechanism of epigenetic regulation of gene expression, which has a deep evolutionary
root among eukaryotes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10367472
- **Project number:** 2R01GM100108-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Sibum Sung
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $321,111
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2012-05-01 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10367472

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10367472, Coordinated regulation of developmental transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components (2R01GM100108-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10367472. Licensed CC0.

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