Post-transcriptional regulation of plant gene expression in stress situation

Timely reprogramming of gene expression in response to internal and external cues is essential for eukaryotic development and adaptation to changing environments. The reprogramming of gene expression involves many steps, from transcription and translation to post-translational modifications and degradation of RNA and proteins. To obtain an integrated view of the mechanisms regulating gene expression, it is essential to obtain information about all these steps and the way they influence each other. The main goal of our team is to increase the knowledge of the key post-transcriptional steps of plant gene expression, focusing on mRNA stability and translation, especially under stress conditions. In this seminar I will present two ongoing stories, one describing how regulation of translation and co-translational decay contribute to the plant heat stress memory and how variation in tRNA thiolation levels can act as a sensor to regulate translation and influence sulfur-related metabolic processes.