LncRNAs, quantitative regulators of level and dynamic of gene expression

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are now accepted regulators of gene expression at all steps currently investigated, from the control of chromatin conformation to protein stability. However, since the functions of lncRNAs are lower sequence constraints than for coding genes, the targets and the specific mechanisms through which most lncRNAs act remain poorly understood. Using genome wide approaches and molecular genetics, we are characterizing how lncRNA are included in gene regulatory networks and how they may regulate their target genes, such as in the case of the MARneral Silencing (MARS) lncRNA that we showed to be involved in the regulation the marneral metabolic gene cluster. LncRNAs showed to be key regulators of the plant plasticity through the regulation of the level and the dynamic of gene expression.