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

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2020 · $303,960

## Abstract

Coordinated regulation of floral transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components
Project Summary
Epigenetic mechanisms enable organisms to adapt to developmental and environmental cues. Flowering is one of the
major developmental commitments in the plant life cycle. Plants have evolved intricate regulatory networks to control
flowering time in response to both endogenous and environmental conditions. 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 three-dimensional structure of 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 three-dimensional structure of
genome is not well understood. Here we seek to understand the mechanistic details of how chromatin modifications and
lncRNAs mediate gene regulation. Our overriding goal is to elucidate structural and regulatory components governing
protein-lncRNA mediated epigenetic gene regulation during vernalization in Arabidopsis through three specific aims
designed to: 1) elucidate the detailed mechanisms of lncRNA-mediated gene regulation focusing on two lncRNAs that
we showed coordinate the repression of gene involved flowing through the formation of intragenic chromatin loop, 2)
evaluate coordination between protein and lncRNA components that mediate chromatin modification, 3) perform
functional characterization of additional loci that undergo epigenetic changes upon developmental transition. Our
approach will reveal the mechanistic details of lncRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation as it occurs during a key process
of plant development (i.e., flowering). 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:** 9942269
- **Project number:** 5R01GM100108-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** Sibum Sung
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $303,960
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-05-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942269

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942269, Coordinated regulation of floral transition by protein and long noncoding RNA components (5R01GM100108-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942269. Licensed CC0.

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