Targeting of function and structure of Arabidopsis dicing complex proteoforms on microRNA biogenesis
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a central role in the modulation of plant development and stress response. They are processed from primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) by a dicing complex, with DICER-like protein (DCL1) forming the catalytic core together with accessory factors HYPERACTIVE LEAVES 1 (HYL1) and SERRATE (SE). Within the range of accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) cause a variety of DCL1 proteoforms, The in vivo roles of these proteoforms and their activities will be subjects for further investigation in this project. We will define the effect of these variants in miRNA production from different Arabidopsis accessions and analyze its binding and activity with proteins and RNAs. We further examine the structural changes of the DCL1 proteoforms. Furthermore, we intend to design de novo DCL1 proteins with activities tailor-made using computational design, including AI models. These engineered proteins will be tested in vitro and in vivo to gain structural and functional insight into the miRNA biosynthesis mechanism. The research may provide an optimized design of proteins that are relevant to RNA processing and may open up means to broad understanding and potential manipulation for miRNA biogenesis in plants.